[TowerTalk] Stacked 4 squares

[jimlux]

On 11/4/16 2:27 PM, Mike Smith VE9AA wrote:
>
>
> I guess if the reasons for me asking must be known.I'll tell you all....yes,
> towers with 1 or 2 nice tribanders would no doubt be much better than a high
> band 4-square.
>
>
>
> I want to see what I can do with ONLY wires-in-the-woods.  Call it a
> personal challenge.
>
>
>
> Recently, I installed 4 squares for 20-40-80 (and 2el on 160m). (mostly all
> wires-in-the-woods)  They work well.  Maybe even very well.
>
> Not super station well (hi hi) but I am impressed what a bunch of wires and
> Comtek controllers from Dx Engineering, can do.
>
>
>
> So, I was wanting to replace my very low tribander (on a short mast) and
> also my HF9V, with something else.unconventional.I still have a little room
> left in my small strip of woods, but judging from my results on 20m, I think
> I need to go with more than a single 4-Sq, hence my question.  I don't live
> on a beach, but a pretty good ridge in NB.
>
>
>
> I also really like the instant direction switch.  No rotors, no towers. Very
> quiet.  It's a pleasure to use.  I don't know why I waited 38 yrs to try one
> !
>


and in reality, aside from the takeoff angle and "reflection gain" from 
H-pol, you could do better in terms of directivity and F/B with an array 
than a Yagi.

A Yagi is limited by the physical size.. you can get a fair amount of 
gain and good F/B if you have a lot of elements, but it gets very picky 
- narrow band, etc.

On the other hand, it's easy to get a 20-50 meter physical aperture with 
an array of verticals (or dipoles).  In general, one can place N-1 nulls 
with N elements, and you get a gain of N  (or 10*log10(N)).. so 8 
elements gets you a gain of 9dB over the single antenna (which is 
probably 1.5-2 dBi) - and that's better than most HF 3 element Yagis 
(6-8 dBi)


The array is more complex: multiple feedpoints, phasing networks, 
cables.  There is a raw simplicity in single tower, single antenna, 
single feedpoint, single rotator.