[TowerTalk] Vertical comparison question

[Patrick Greenlee]

I have a Hy-Gain Hy-Tower of '1950's design originally intended as a 5 band 
antenna (predated WARC bands.) It has been improved (more stainless) and you 
can add on a 17 meter stub.  It works 12m just fine with no alteration or 
addition.  With a 40m trap and a length of wire added on at the 24 ft point 
it gives you a good 160m antenna. IT works 160, 80, 40, 20, 17, 15, 12, and 
10 without a tuner and does pretty well.  I have A-B compared it to 1/2 wave 
dipoles and a 270 ft Carolina Windom OCF dipole and it is a wash.  Sometimes 
it is better and sometimes not. One short coming of the vertical was not 
being able to QSO with a friend 120 miles away with the vertical but with 
the OCF dipole we did great.  With the vertical he was in the noise for me 
but 20dB over S-9 to a friend 1/2 mile from me using a G5RU doublet up 40 
ft.

I haven't tried but you could add on stubs for 60m and 30m and have a 10 
band no band switch, no tuner antenna.  I don't have any radials as called 
for in the manual but installed it on top of a 37X73 ft all metal building 
as a counterpoise.  It has stubs for some of the bands.  Works pretty good. 
Radio waves is Radio waves, they don't know it is an old design. New, old, 
indifferent... a quarter wave is a quarter wave.

For those not familiar with the Hy-Tower... It is a triangular tower in 
three graduated sections that stands 24 ft tall above the mounting plate on 
insulators. It has a series of graduated telescoping aluminum tubes 
extending up from the triangular tower to about the 52 ft level.  It was 
designed to be free standing and mounted on a concrete base 3X3X3 ft.  It is 
advertised for 85MPH winds.  I designed a custom base, skipped the concrete, 
and guyed with Phillystran. As the base is not at ground level but at about 
22 ft  to 74 ft above ground where the wind is stronger, I felt better with 
guys  A N D  the welds on my base are not stressed much. One day I may 
experiment with a few radials laying on the roof as a test to see if they 
would help.

73, Patrick AF5CK