[UK-CONTEST] CQWW SSB 10m SO Unassisted : G3ZQH

[G3ZQH]

Thanks for info on hexbeam vs Yagi.  Interesting that the noise level was lower with the Yagi- possibly as a result of the higher angle lobe that appears on the hexbeam at around 50’ height.

I have pasted in a table I put together a couple of years ago when I was looking for best value for a 5-band directional antenna. It is interesting to see that with these inevitably compromised antennas there is generally fairly poor performance on 10m particularly F/B ratio. The SteppIR in 2- or 3-el format is actually worse than the hexbeam on 10m F/B!

 
 
SteppIR 3 el
SteppIR 2 el
Optibeam 10-5
G3TXQ hex
Spiderbeam
Max. Element length (m)
10.97
10.97
7,70
6.6
10
Boomlength (m)
4.9
1.44
3.75
6.6
10
Turning Radius (m)
6
5.61
4.3
3.3
5
Weight (kg)
19
13.6
14
10
11.5
Windload (sq ft)
6.1
4.0
3,2
6.0
3.8
Gain dBd 20
4.9
4.2
4.2
3.8
4.5
Gain dBd 17
5.5
4.2
4.4
3.2
3.2
Gain dBd 15
5.7
4.1
4.2
3.5
4.7
Gain dBd 12
6.2
4.0
4.4
3.0
3.0
Gain dBd 10
6.3
3.8
4.8
3.6
4.9
F-to-B dB 20
21
18
22
22
15
F-to-B dB 17
20
19
17
19
20
F-to-B dB 15
27
13.7
15
16
20
F-to-B dB 12
21
13
15
13
10
F-to-B dB 10
11
9.3
20
16
18
Price £
1500
1100
1000
500
450