I have to agree. The R5 was terrible. In a restricted neighborhood I
planted one about 8 feet off the ground painted with camo colors. I got
out - but not well. I decided to try the GAP Titan. Night and day
difference. I eventually went to a pair of phased verticals on 20 with
elevated radials - 4 each. Killer antenna system. I made the radiators
out of steel conduit welded together. Eventually I put up a compact,
multi-band dipole (W9INN design SK RIP). I had the best of both
worlds. I could switch between vertical or horizontal radiators and go
with which ever gave the best results. I still have very much the same
setup. A 3 element beam often did not produce as good a signal as the
phased verticals.
73, Doug -- K0DXV
On 9/11/2014 3:51 PM, David Gilbert wrote:
Not to heap coals on the fire, but I also owned an early R5 and it was
a terrible performer. I had it over a year and when I finally got rid
of it and put up a simple 20m vertical in the exact same spot on the
roof and fed it against random length wires as a "ground plane", the
improvement was astounding. I don't think the basic concept was so
bad, but the implementation was horrible. I realized what I had as
soon as I opened up that little box at the base and saw what some
clueless person thought could act like a matching network.
In general, though, I think it is a mistake to characterize all
verticals a poor performers. It's all a function of efficiency
(avoiding losses) and location. Check out the ground conductivity
charts across the U.S. and you'll see huge differences, with some
areas essentially acting as terrestrial dummy loads. Nearby
structures that can absorb energy or distort patterns represent other
possible culprits for bad results with verticals. I used nothing but
verticals for most of three decades, but mine were always on a flat
roof and well in the clear of anything nearby.
73,
Dave AB7E
On 9/11/2014 5:29 AM, Barry wrote:
Bill Levy wrote
I had no trouble at all keeping in touch with my family using an
early R5
vertical in 5H3 land when I was working there.
Bill N2WL
ex 5H3WL, 5Z4PI and VQ9WL
Having those callsigns gave you an extra 20 db gain. I've tried a few
verticals over the years and found them to be poor performers.
Barry W2UP
--
View this message in context:
http://elecraft.365791.n2.nabble.com/Verticals-tp7592925p7592961.html
Sent from the Elecraft mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
______________________________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list
Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
Post: mailto:[email protected]
This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Message delivered to [email protected]
______________________________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list
Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
Post: mailto:[email protected]
This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Message delivered to [email protected]
______________________________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list
Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
Post: mailto:[email protected]
This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Message delivered to [email protected]
