[TowerTalk] Vertical comparison question

[Mark Beckwith]

Thanks for posting this Patrick.  It has been a long time since I read a 
review of a Hy-Tower and they continue to just play and play for many 
owners.

73 - Mark, N5OT


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Patrick Greenlee" <patrick_g at windstream.net>
To: <towertalk at contesting.com>
Sent: Saturday, April 06, 2013 10:54 PM
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Vertical comparison question


>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
>
> _______________________________________________
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> TowerTalk mailing list
> TowerTalk at contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk