All band Sterba Curtain

[Claude Frantz]

N0KHQ and some other have recommended to use a Sterba Curtain antenna
designed for 10 m, as an all band antenna for 160 to 10 m.

http://www.dxzone.com/cgi-bin/dir/jump2.cgi?ID=16537

Is this really a good recommendation ?

What makes this antenna so good as an all band antenna for 160 to 10 m ?

Thanks a lot !

Best 73 de Claude

[Rick]

> Is this really a good recommendation ?

No, not at all. I ran the model and it is less than 10 dbi on ten meters.
A 3 ele beam would blow it away.

> What makes this antenna so good as an all band antenna for 160 to 10 m ?

Nothing at all. A random piece of wire will do as well.

Rick K2XT

[Richard Clark]

On Mon, 20 Jul 2009 08:08:00 +0200, Claude Frantz <r31d...@unibw.de>
wrote:

>What makes this antenna so good as an all band antenna for 160 to 10 m ?

Nothing in particluar.

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC

[Registered User]

On Mon, 20 Jul 2009 08:08:00 +0200, Claude Frantz <r31d...@unibw.de>
wrote:

>N0KHQ and some other have recommended to use a Sterba Curtain antenna

>designed for 10 m, as an all band antenna for 160 to 10 m.
>
>http://www.dxzone.com/cgi-bin/dir/jump2.cgi?ID=16537
>
>Is this really a good recommendation ?
>

If a yagi or quad is not practical (trees, power lines, expense, etc.)
a Sterba curtain is a viable alternative. I use a pair on 6M with
one's pattern being N/S and the other's being E/W. One antenna is
matched with a HB 6M balanced tuner while a commercial HF balanced
tuner does the matching for the other.

Depending upon the available room additional bays can be easily added
to a Sterba curtain. Like any antenna HAAT matters. Even so I have
worked EU with a 5 bay curtain mounted 30 feet up.

>What makes this antenna so good as an all band antenna for 160 to 10 m ?
>

A 10M Sterba curtain is a 'good' all-band HF antenna because it does
work better than no antenna at all. A 10M Sterba curtain will show
some directivity on 12M and possibly 15M and 17M as well. Beyond that
it becomes more of a random wire.

73 de n4jvp

[Rick]

> Even so I have worked EU with a 5 bay curtain mounted 30 feet up.
>

Do you know if you could also have worked EU at the same time if you had,
say a 2 element beam
on a 4 ft boom?
Or even a dipole?

Maybe if you had a converted CB vertical your signal into EU would have been
30 db stronger?

See my point?

Rick K2XT

[Registered User]

What kind of vertical provides 30 dBi?

Gain estimates for Sterba curtains are all over the map, 2 dBi per bay
is a commonly considered figure. A 5 bay curtain's gain is better than
any two element yagi or a single dipole. It may have been possible to
work EU with a either the yagi or a dipole but I have neither.

>See my point?
>
No. There is no place at this QTH where a yagi can be mounted within a
hundred feet of the shack. Even with a HB yagi the required coax,
mast, rotor, rotor cable, guy supplies etc. represent a substantial
expense. Window line, insulators, rope and #14 THHN is a lot less
costly. Of course if someone wanted to gift the funds ... hi,

My seven-bay curtain was built and hung at 50 feet in less than day
with no assistance. I don't believe that can be done from the ground
up with a plumber's delight. Wire antennas don't require antenna
parties to go up or down. This makes both experimentation and
maintenance very easy,

My primary HF antenna is a full-wave loop for 160M. This antenna is
also fed using a balanced tuner and window line. The loop works well
on 6M but lacks the directionality on rx that a curtain provides. With
my curtains another benefit is going from NS to EW only takes the flip
of a switch.

There are situations where a Sterba curtain is a more viable choice
than a yagi. In my case even if trees and power lines didn't preclude
mounting a rooftop yagi, the landlord might not consent to such an
installation.

73 de n4jvp