[TowerTalk] 40 Meter Yagi Question

[Ed Sawyer]

I originally had the EF 240 at 80 ft.  It performed pretty darned well with
a 230 - 250khz bandwidth as advertised.  Its very lightweight but its
fragile. I beefed up some of its weak points that needed service after 3 or
4 years.   For the money, it was the best bang for the buck and I did well
with it.  I took it down after about 5 years and put it into due south
service at 50 ft.  Its now on the ground because that tower was taken down.
Now that I am higher power, I use a 2 el Delta loop in the trees and that
works adequately.

 

I now have a M2 3 el 40M3L.  Its definitely physically better built although
it has one linear loading flaw mechanically that I have since upgraded on
all elements.  It has much better front to back than the 2 el Force 12 and
"holds a frequency better".  I am happy with the upgrade.

 

To me the ONLY reason to got to the 48ft dual driven element 40M beams is
the bandwidth.  I don't think the extra dB or so is materially better than
the 40M3L but the BW is only 200khz and it rolls off SHARPLY at the edges.
I have it pushed down towards CW, so I see it start rolling off around 7180.
Given the concentration of SSB from 7200 and down, I am okay with the
compromise.  I can reduce power and answer anyone right up to 7290 if
needed.  I am sure its barely a rotary dipole up there.

 

If it was me, in Brazil, already owning a 402CD, I would be tempted to buy a
longer boom and adding a 3rd element and re-optimizing for a 3el.  A brand
new 3 el shipped from the states is going to be a BIG expense and won't be
much better than a modified 402CD for an extra element.

 

Ed  N1UR