[VHFcontesting] Stacked Squalos?

[Alex]

Halos, Squalos, and whatever cute name they come up with for these antennas do not have an omnidirectional pattern, no matter what they claim. (Yes, a local ham and I tested them.) In order for a halo to approach the gain of a single dipole in the directions of least radiation, you need to stack at least 4 halos. You really have to consider if you want to go with the complexity of building such an array with a much simpler solution that will outperform such an array. 

Two dipoles at a 90 degrees angle will easily outperform a 4 bay h(squ)alo stack. Use either 2 feedlines and a switch at the shack, or switch at the antennas using a relay (reed relays if weight is an issue). Add a simple 555 timer circuit to switch ever 0.5 second or so and supply an override switch and you can sit back and relax. Better yet, use a skeleton slot or dipole groups to do this at much higher gain with similar coverage. I'm sure this isn't too complex of a project for the VT ham club.

Consider which directions are most interesting to you and maybe a simple dipole will suffice. The simple dipole seems to have lost its allure, but bend the thing to have it radiate in a peanut shape pattern, mutilating its gain figure,  give it a cute name and it sells like hot cakes. :-)

Yes, I built halos and 2 and 4 bay stacks, but  after many conversations, experiments and shared experience, I'm convinced that switching is the way to go (for stationary use).

73,
--Alex KR1ST
http://www.kr1st.com

-----Original Message-----
>From: "Joshua M. Arritt" <jarritt at vt.edu>
>Sent: Oct 3, 2006 5:56 PM
>To: vhfcontesting at contesting.com
>Subject: [VHFcontesting] Stacked Squalos?
>
>A couple folks in the Virginia Tech ham club are considering adding 
>omni-directional receive antennas for 6, 2, and possibly 432 (and 222, 
>once I get my xverter running) to augment the modest yagi farm used in 
>VHF/UHF contest.  I agree that having something omni to switch to during 
>search-n-pounce periods could be advantageous on bands where we're using 
>boomers now.  I've built a few  2 meter squalos for singleton mobile use 
>in the past and they've worked OK... but I would think stacking bays of 
>these would be in order for a little more gain in a contest.  It seems 
>I've seen posts where folks have mentioned such arrays before on this 
>list. 
>
>Any suggestions/war stories/words of wisdom for constructing and using 
>such a beast?  Is the stacking theory a little overboard?  How many bays 
>do the big guns run?  Is it worth building them for 432 and above (sans 
>the dish and horn bands)?  End-fed vs. center-fed?  How about noise 
>considerations?   Anyone doing half-wave spacing for the lower angle -- 
>experiences?
>
>  Thanks, and CU in the 432 sprint!
>
>   73,
>    - Josh, KF4YLM
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