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beam


HEY ALL a Free bander...

LOL is all good.....

well depends on your budget and size restrictions
let us know more
 
there are a few decent antennas..

i think for the money these are likly best bang for the buck

http://www.wolfradio.com/wy5.htm

http://www.wolfradio.com/wy6.htm

http://www.wolfradio.com/wy6L.htm

though money not being an issue...
the antenna i am considering (if i ever get around to figuring where i can put it with all my other antennas)

www.steppir.com

they have a 4 element on 32 foot boom..
it's and antenna that will keep a 1.1 to 1 SWR across the entire
24 mhz to 30 mhz by constantly ajusting its element lengths according to the need of the frequency being used

some (most) will say it is way over kill
way i will answer thatis..
many use icom 706 MKIIG for only use on 11 meters and "freeband"

try telling those people they are using too good equipment

the best always costs the most

likly though the first 3 antennas will work extremely well for you and his antennas are very fairly priced

Later
 
I am the First to say it is Over Kill
Especially for using simply for 11 meter and FreeBand frequency's

However you can tune it for either best foward or best F/B regection (and easily go from one to the other..
as well as foward and rear gain same time...as well as quick polarity swing of 180 degrees)

But yes....it is for sure over kill...
But you know it will work extremly well..

Then again...
my 1st 3 choices were far more reasonable
and yet.....how many people you know willing to go to more then 10 or 15 foot boom beams....those 3 were...24 ft....32 ft and 40 ft booms..

seems he wants a good antenna...
so just showing a few options...

instead of the crap so many get....
like JoGun and other simular garbage...lol
 
if you are going for dx then go with a quad 4 element like the SE quad or go with the maco shooting star 4 element both antenna's are very good beams and dont take a monster rotor to turn them..



just my 2 cent's
 
4 Element Maco M104C Beam customized to Signal Engineering Specifications.
Great Preformer for only $170.00.
I run a Sirio 4 Element Beam converted to freeband and the bandwith is pretty good,you will be happy to made this choice.
If you go for a Bigger Beam,you have to consider that the Bandwith start getting narrow,unless you want to run it along with an Antenna Tuner.

My 2 Pesos
Tecnicoloco
CDX-171
Sonora,Mexico
73's :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:
 
see...that is where the Steppir comes on in....
Granted it costs up the wazzoo

i have HF VHF and UHF tuners
i am not fans of tuners

they protect the radio (no doubt) but do not in any way help the signal

maco's i find to be on the low end....of Acceptible beams

besides....a large boom beam is where your gain is derived from
is the spacing of the elements that creat the usable bandwidth

i think the closer elements with tighter bandwidth is better
more concentrated punch in the signal
not higher gain (when compared to less or more elements on same length boom)....but tighter focas enabling more concentrated punch.....
however is more credical then to also have a better tuner rotor that is acurate that enables tighter turning/tuning
 
bighammer said:
what beam do you guys recomend up to 5 element.
bighammer,
Are looking for a beam with dual or single polarity?
Are looking for a beam to talk the world or local (within the US)?

There are several to choose from - Quads, Yagi's.

Do you want to spend gobs of money or maybe just what ever it will take to get the job done?
 
Just what do you think a tuner is...
it is a mis conseption in how many think it will enable them to talk on any antenna..

the slight ALMOST Exception is say

you are looking to transmitt on say (i will use 11 meters here)
27,775..

say your antenna (vertical or horizontal) is tuned as many are half way on band of 11 meters 26,985 to 27,405.....
so half way is about 27,200 (not a exact figure)

depends on how wide banded the antenna is for us to realise how a sinals effectency drops as one steps out of the sweet spot

lets say is 1/2 a meg (so 27,200 down to 26,700 on upper end to 27,700).......so basiclly any frequency on that antenna will sound well from 26,700 on up to 27,700

so now i put my tuner on and ajust the frequency i am using
27,775 ...

i am so little off to start with little difference would be realised with a tuner.....and i really would not need a tuner if my swr had been say 1.1 to 1 (i can see at times using a tuner to help you hear better...that is a different discussion)

now take same antenna but instead of 1/2 meg bandwidth say it is .2 meg
now using 27,775 puts radio usable within its bandwidth very well within entire legal cb freuency's

this is still within easy use of a tuner.....some antenna will drop their 1.1 swr to maybe 1.3 at the 27,775
now your wattage effentcy is (say was 10 watts at 1.1 swr)
at 1.3 effentcy drops to likly 9.5 watts no big deal here

now say antenna you are using has a swr of 2.5 or say swr of 3
now radio likly willnot like it....
our ten watts drops to what...something like 5 or 6 watts

again is radio going to notice a huge difference here...maybe...likly not

but your transmitt dropped what...almost 3 db (that actually is huge) though at the 10 watts we started with it is doubtfulll whether the radios finals will have problems

if we jump instead to say 500 watts....
well now it is impotent to use the tuner for now the finals will indeed not like this and are in danger of going with repeated use of such a poor match....

so you win using the tuner.....

sort of.......radio/transmitter is safe
but the reduced effiency is still present

with the true swr of 3 using original lenier/amp pumping 500 watts....in actuality is realisticly effectivly radiating 250 watts (whatever the true formular is....would have to look it up....doing this from memory......i do not use linears and make sure my swr is spot on (so no need to use tuners....i use tuners only if swr rises...then realising i have problem with antenna,coax or coax connector....therefore will protect radio so i can still use...untill such time i can go address the problem in my antenna system....yet in using my tuner at these times ,,,,which is few and far between....i realise i have reduced my actual usable or effective power output)
 
quads are indeed good......likly slightly better then yagi's
dual polarity and quads on 11 meter band is much harder to set up and require much more maintance

if you are in a high wind and or bad weather area for winters
then i would say stay with a yagi

only worth considering Quads and or dual polarity on VHF and UHF frequencys
 

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