Best Vertical HF Antenna ??
WB3U
dipole up 40'. However, for reasons I won't go into, the antenna must
come down. :(
It appears that I'm going to be restricted to using a ground-mounted
vertical for 80-10M, although there's a possibility of also putting up
a random wire for 160M. The 160M wire would be 200-400' long,
supported by trees, and I would need to homebrew a tuning unit for use
at the feedpoint (so I can feed it with coax).
The standard trap verticals I'm considering are the Hy-Gain DX-88
(188S) and CushCraft AP8A. The Butternut HF9VX and GAP Titan DX are
also in the running, but I would be using the latter at ground level
with radials rather than as elevated, ground independant verticals.
The GAP Voyager DX covers 160M but not the spectrum through 10M, so
I'm not considering this antenna at this time.
Perhaps someone familiar with the construction of these antennas can
answer a few questions.
First, which of these products is the most rugged? The GAP appears to
eliminate traps and coils, but all those stubs and tuning sections
hanging off the radiator look pretty fragile. Also, do the GAP
and/or the others require guying?
Second, is there any truth to several manufacturers' claims of
improved performance as a result of feeding the vertical at the
center, or at the top?
Also, the area that's cleared behind my house will allow installation
of radials about 50' long (100' diameter). However, the edges of the
clearing are lined by trees about 60' tall. How much of a detriment
is this likely to be to antenna effectiveness on the higher HF bands?
Finally, I seem to remember reading about a trick concerning laying
radials in the ground. It had something to with with the use of a
certain tool (edger?) to make the job easier. Anyone know?
Any opinions on these issues (or alternate approaches) will be greatly
appreciated. Installing the radials and burying the coax will have to
be done before winter sets in, so I need to make a decision quickly.
73 and Thanks,
Jack WB3U
Mike, KN6IS
ja...@pinetree.microserve.com (WB3U) wrote:
Jack, I have been using the Cushcraft AP8A for three years. It is ground
mounted with 32 radials, four at .25wl for each band. Just like the
directions say. However, I did make one mod. I connected the end of the
80 meter radials to my chainlink fence. About 2000' long. I live on 2.5
acres in the desert. The antenna is about 100' from my house, no
obstructions.
The reports that I get on all bands are excellent. I also work a lot of
DX with no problem. The antenna has survied 90 to 100 mph winds with no
problem. I am very happy with the antenna. My four element quad only
gets about two "s" units better report on a good day, sometimes much less.
I used a hoe for digging a trench for each radial. You can use a garden
trowel but I did not have one. My radials are about three to four inches
below ground level. Hope this helps.
--
Mike, KN6IS
Jim Durham
(Questions about commercial verticals snipped..no experience with these)
Just an overall comment about verticals. Anthing which reduces the current
flowing into the ground system is usually good (excepting ohmic resistance!).
Center or top feeding/loading may accomplish this. The idea is that the
ground system is not perfect but has ohmic losses. More current=more loss.
The current in the antenna does the radiating. Raising the current maximum
higher off the ground by top loading does two things..keeps down the ohmic
losses in the ground system and gets the radiated field up away from
lossy stuff like dirt, trees, etc.
: Finally, I seem to remember reading about a trick concerning laying
: radials in the ground. It had something to with with the use of a
: certain tool (edger?) to make the job easier. Anyone know?
This may be overkill for a ham installation, but the way I have put in
radials for AM broadcast towers is with a subsoiler, a kind of plow that
has a narrow blade that slits the soil, ending in a larger "bulb" that
plows an underground "tunnel" of sorts (maybe 2 inches in diameter. You
weld or fasten a pipe to the back of the subsoiler, bending the bottom
of the pipe toward the rear and cutting it off even with the "bulb" part
of the plow. Then you feed the wire in the top of the pipe. You can rig
up a bracket to hold a wire spool on the tractor. It lays a radial slick
as can be. A small stake to fasten the end of the wire to is driven at
the center of the radial system (under the antenna center). I used an
old '32 Ford Tractor. I guess a large garder tractor would work. Doing
it by hand would be rough work!
-Jim Durham
Joe Pfeuffer
I have had an AP8 up for over five years in the ice, snow, heat, etc with
no problems and pretty good performance (for a vertical).
73
Your_Name_Here
I'm using the HF6V and the AP8A. I have them both elevated approximately
15 feet, using a simple two per band 1/4 wave radial system.
My ground stinks here (rocky)...I've found that raising the verticals
really helped me. In my experience, the AP8A outperformed the HF6V. The
HF6V APPEARS to hold up better in the wind, but really neither have ever
caused me troubles. I do read that the GAPs buckle in the center...they
require extensive guying.
I phase the two together and get multihop performance comparable to my
friends (three blocks away, same terrain) 80' tower and three element
wide spaced 20 meter beam.
God, I hope that you don't have power lines near by, 'cause if you do,
your ears will cringe from the high noise!
Marc
crca...@netins.net
wires) I have an opinion on this one! One of the best verticals I ever used was an onl
....oops...I meant old Hygain 18V or whatever they call their all band vertical with the
little coil at the base. It was free from a friend of mine who took pity on a poor, new
novice with no antenna. I stuck it in the ground so that it was just 5-6 inches from the
rain gutters on the house. (When we had no wind, otherwise it touched the gutter at times)
That was before I had the concept of "radials" quite figured out so I grounded it to a
8 INCH (wow!) pipe in the ground. Then I hooked up my 75 watt Hallicrafters HT-40 xmtr
and Heath reciever. On 40meter novice cw band in the summer, at night, one of the first
stations I worked was PY8NBO. Of course this kind of thing can only be done by a 19 year
old novice. Now that I am older and wiser and have a rig with more computers built in
than the old Apollo spacecraft I can prove that IT CAN'T BE DONE1111
Surely there must be some hams out there with an even better story than this. I would
love to hear it!!!Really!
73 from WB0FDJ
W8JI Tom
envied people that had them. But all verticals really need a good ground
system. The ground independent verticals never seem to work as well as a
conventional vertical the same size with a modest ground. I have a ground
mounted top loaded 35 foot vertical with 80 radials on 80 meters. It ties
my dipole (at 130 feet) into Europe from the Atlanta area. Think about
that!
73 Tom
WB3U
will get me through the winter, so I've won a reprieve (until spring).
Many thanks to everyone who posted advice and sent me e-mail.
73,
Jack WB3U
Joe Pfeuffer
73
Jim Martin
:>...One of the best verticals I ever used was an onl....oops...I meant old Hygain
:>18V or whatever they call their all band vertical with the little coil at the base...
Yup, that was THE antenna. I used an 18V from 1981 till 1983 and achieved
WAS/CW with it. It was a great antenna. I even by-passed the coil and used a
transmatch in the shack and it still worked greatly.
The only radials I had for my 18V was my double-bazooka dipole. The antenna
was installed on a 50' pushup mast...should have kept the thing but I went to a
mini-quad...remember the HQ-1? Worked great on 6...oops I'm digressing...then
I went to my current Rohn 25G and a tri-band Mosely TA-33. Sure wish I could
put my tower up...I'm using an R5 right now and a G5RV.
I really like the R5. My only problem now is I live in the city. The noise is
horrendous at times so I switch back and forth between the R5 and the G5RV. My
DSP-59+ helps a lot too...mainly on cw...it is mediocre (sp?) on fone.
My $.02 worth.
Cheers & 73
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|Jim Martin, WK1V | I speak for no one...Not |
|Lowell, Massachusetts | even for myself! |
|USAF (Ret)ained | #include "std_disclaimer.h" |
|ex: KA5MWD/N1CLS/KB1LW/HL9ZF | Intentionally Left Blank |
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FORREST GEHRKE
WW> radials in the ground. It had something to with with the use of a
WW> certain tool (edger?) to make the job easier. Anyone know?
WW> Any opinions on these issues (or alternate approaches) will be
WW> greatly appreciated. Installing the radials and burying the coax
WW> will have to be done before winter sets in, so I need to make a
WW> decision quickly.
If it's a lawn where you want to put down radials, I have found
the following works very well:
First cut the grass fairly short.
Pull the radials very tight and stake them so they stay that way.
Allow the grass to grow to about 3 or 4 inches before the next mowing.
Keep the mower cutting length higher than normal the first few
mowings.
The radials will now be low enough down that a mower won't
tangle them. (Of course make an inspection to be sure that
all the radials are still pulled down tightly.)
After a few months you will have trouble finding most of them
as they are well down among the grass roots.
If no grass, I just pull them tight laid down on the ground.
Putting down 120 radials and burying them sounds like too much
work!! But even in this case, after a year or two they have
started to work their way below the surface in most areas.
BTW, I'm assuming a 120 radials as I am assuming a 1/4 w.l.
vertical. However they don't hurt to have with other
vertical lengths either.
I use small gauge #20 insulated copper wire for the radials;
this avoids corrosion. By all that's holy, avoid steel
fence wire! I'm sure you know that, but I often see it
recommended.
* RM 1.3 02583 * Error reading FAT record. Try the SKINNY one? (Y/N)
jbmitch
>I'm using an R5 right now and a G5RV.
>
>I really like the R5. My only problem now is I live in the city. The noise is
>horrendous at times so I switch back and forth between the R5 and the G5RV. My
I must say that I believe the R5 is one of the more underrated antennas
in use by hams. I've had one up at two different QTHs and have worked more
than 100 countries per band on 20, 15, and 10 with it. I do put it up quite
high (about 50') and run an amp. The only complaint I have is that is
won't handle full power, key down. I blew out traps on 12 and 17 M tuning
up with 1500 W, and now tune into a dummy load and put no more than about
1000W pep into these bands. It handles all I can give it on 20, 15, and
10.
73, John
mor...@ipers1.e-technik.uni-stuttgart.de
>in use by hams. I've had one up at two different QTHs and have worked more
>than 100 countries per band on 20, 15, and 10 with it. I do put it up quite
>high (about 50') and run an amp.
John,
Just what is your point? If you run 1 KW into *any* antenna 50' up,
you can expect to work lots of countries on 10 to 20. Try three loops,
inverted vees or dipoles at the same height as the top of your R5.
Apart from this the R5 is generally not underrated. For the type of
compromize it is, most agree that it works quite well.
73, Moritz DL5UH