..........and here's to the
nay-sayers - (insert sound of
your choosing!) I've heard on
several occasions, while I had it
up on a test stand, from
supposed experts, that it'll never
work. At least, it won't work
well. The element spacing is all
wrong, lengths, etc. Granted, I
never had a beam antenna
before, so I have nothing to
compare it to, but the locals here
seem to giving the nod of
approval.
nay-sayers - (insert sound of
your choosing!) I've heard on
several occasions, while I had it
up on a test stand, from
supposed experts, that it'll never
work. At least, it won't work
well. The element spacing is all
wrong, lengths, etc. Granted, I
never had a beam antenna
before, so I have nothing to
compare it to, but the locals here
seem to giving the nod of
approval.
I have to relocate my vertical antenna, as it extends up in between the elements on the
beam, almost to the boom, when the beam is pointed north or south. I'm sure there's
interference between the two antennas, even when the beam is laying horizontal.
Performance exceeds my wildest expectations. I'm a quarter mile east of I-77, which runs
north/south through town, and Route 30 runs east/west. From the vertical antenna, I can
hear traffic close to town on I-77. With the beam pointed west towards Massillon, I can hear
traffic on Rt 30, 10-15 miles out, and switching between antennas has the same effect as
changing channels on the radio. I still find this hard to believe even though I can hear it.
beam, almost to the boom, when the beam is pointed north or south. I'm sure there's
interference between the two antennas, even when the beam is laying horizontal.
Performance exceeds my wildest expectations. I'm a quarter mile east of I-77, which runs
north/south through town, and Route 30 runs east/west. From the vertical antenna, I can
hear traffic close to town on I-77. With the beam pointed west towards Massillon, I can hear
traffic on Rt 30, 10-15 miles out, and switching between antennas has the same effect as
changing channels on the radio. I still find this hard to believe even though I can hear it.
In the horizontal position, It doesn't appear to
have any gain over the ground plane, but it's
extremely directional and will work good for
direction finding. When in the vertical position,
the gain over the ground plane is next to
amazing. I can hear and talk to stations I can't
even hear off the ground plane. How much of
this is due to interference between the two
antennas isn't clear yet. It is obvious, though,
that depending on where and how the beam is
positioned, has an effect on both receive and
transmit on the ground plane.
I'm now trying to work out installing guys wires. I
think I was a little greedy when it came to height.
Even though I've seen installations a little more
ambitious than what I've got, without ANY
additional support, I think the insurance would be
worthwhile, along with helping me to overcome
my fear of heights, when the need
have any gain over the ground plane, but it's
extremely directional and will work good for
direction finding. When in the vertical position,
the gain over the ground plane is next to
amazing. I can hear and talk to stations I can't
even hear off the ground plane. How much of
this is due to interference between the two
antennas isn't clear yet. It is obvious, though,
that depending on where and how the beam is
positioned, has an effect on both receive and
transmit on the ground plane.
I'm now trying to work out installing guys wires. I
think I was a little greedy when it came to height.
Even though I've seen installations a little more
ambitious than what I've got, without ANY
additional support, I think the insurance would be
worthwhile, along with helping me to overcome
my fear of heights, when the need
arises, and I have to climb up there, again. I had to hire a semi-professional to get the
antenna up there. I would like to install a weather station and a video camera, for no other
reasons than I'd like to, and I can. Just something else to play with.
Barely visible at the top of the mast, is the strobe light. I did get a clear lens for it, and it's
visible to the naked eye at 2 miles. It serves no useful purpose other than a topic of
conversation. This location is surrounded by trees much taller than the antenna, so it's not
any hazard to anything except birds, who shouldn't be flying at night anyway. I know, I'm
not quite right. I hope I never gave the impression that I was, or trying to be.
That's about it for this. It's up and it works. I'd like to do some performance tests, and
calculate actual figures for the beam and how it compares to the predicted performance
from the Yagi for Windows program I used to redesign the antenna. As it stands, the
nay-sayers can now sit down and shut up!
For those concerned about SWR, my antenna analyzer shows the 2:1 bandwidth is from
26.500 to 27.700, and dips to 1.2 at right around 27.200, which is where I tuned the gamma
match to when I had it set up on the test stand. I suppose we could debate on the
accuracies of the MFJ analyzers, but it's certainly close enough for me.
antenna up there. I would like to install a weather station and a video camera, for no other
reasons than I'd like to, and I can. Just something else to play with.
Barely visible at the top of the mast, is the strobe light. I did get a clear lens for it, and it's
visible to the naked eye at 2 miles. It serves no useful purpose other than a topic of
conversation. This location is surrounded by trees much taller than the antenna, so it's not
any hazard to anything except birds, who shouldn't be flying at night anyway. I know, I'm
not quite right. I hope I never gave the impression that I was, or trying to be.
That's about it for this. It's up and it works. I'd like to do some performance tests, and
calculate actual figures for the beam and how it compares to the predicted performance
from the Yagi for Windows program I used to redesign the antenna. As it stands, the
nay-sayers can now sit down and shut up!
For those concerned about SWR, my antenna analyzer shows the 2:1 bandwidth is from
26.500 to 27.700, and dips to 1.2 at right around 27.200, which is where I tuned the gamma
match to when I had it set up on the test stand. I suppose we could debate on the
accuracies of the MFJ analyzers, but it's certainly close enough for me.