[TowerTalk] N6BT, Force12inc and JK Antennas

[Jim Lux]

On 11/21/14, 8:33 AM, Kenneth Sobel wrote:
> I have had a force12 5BA for 17 years and I love it. 15 elements on a 33 foot boom with no traps.
> Why doesn't anyone  in USA make a long boom 5 band antenna without traps anymore?
> Seems like force 12 went to short boom only.
> Optibeam makes one in Germany, but shipping to USA is expensive.
>

Seems like there is a business opportunity here...

A "build to order" antenna fabricator: you send in your design (which 
could be the Force 12 5BA or Optibeam.. or anything else)

The company cuts the tubing, packages it with appropriate bracketry and 
sends it to you.  You'd have a couple of possible element/boom 
attachment approaches available. And maybe only one "attach element 
segments together" (slit and hoseclamp, or rivets and holes, or whatever)

Yes, it will be more expensive than the original item (especially if 
you're comparing to catalog prices from 1985 or earlier), but probably 
not more than twice what the current "mass production" price would be.

That is, I suspect many of these antennas are essentially produced as 
small production runs in a prototype style shop.  Set the tubing cutter 
jig up, cut 20 pieces that length, put them in the bins, etc.