PDL-2 or Maco 103 w/maco v above?

[airplane1]

Can I get opinons on these two setups. I would like a directional antenna but hate to lose the omni direction of my maco v that I have now. I dont want to put up two towers.

I have two PDL-2s NIB so I can sell one to buy a 103 and put my maco v above it. will this work? Or I can just put up my PDL-2 and keep a spare. What is the better setup? :?

what do you members think of this? Please give your Opinions and expertise.

Thanks,
AP

 

[2at124]

which is better

well ilike the m-103 ihave it on the flatside with imax2000 stcked on it without the groundplane . Ifu hav ethe macoV and want to stack them tak the goundplane off the MacoV becuase the m-103 will act as one and you will have no match problems

 

[DXman]

Airplane1
Putting the 5 above the 3 will work just fine. But in order for it not interfer with each other, try to get the 5 up 6-8ft above the beam.
---------------
DXman

 

[2at124]

stackin omin on m-103

It dont have to be that far away . I have my imax 2000 only a few inches above my m-103 so i can hook the coax in the the imax and i have a 1.1 match all over 11 mters. would it be since the maco 5 is metal u would hav eto put it u that high above the beam?

 

[airplane1]

So the 103 with maco v above would work but it would need to be 6-8ft higher than the 103. why that high above?

I would rather have the maco v up there, I like it better than my imax

would that setup be better than the PDL-2?

thanks,
AP

 

[Highlander_821]

I'll bet it would be easier. Gain-wise the 103 and the pdlII are nearly the same. I would try as the other poster said, mount the V above the 103 without radials, 5 or 6 feet above the 103. That would be a sweet setup, for sure. It would probably work with less separation, I just think the take0off angle would increase as you get closer to the 103. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it would decrease the distance it would cover (in theory at least, lol)

 

[DXman]

2at124,
Just because you may have a 1.1 SWR doesn't necessarily mean that your beam is functioning properly.
If the GP is real close to the beam there could be a possibility that they would react against each other and cause the pattern of the beam to be "skewed".

I don't have a GP antenna above my beam, but if I was going to do it that way, then I would go up to the 6 ft mark.
From what I have learned from other people around the world that has put their omi-directionals up above their beams is; 6 is good and 8 is better.
---------------------------
DXman

 

[2at124]

stackin

i dont have a GP on my imax i think i misunderstood you you meant it should be 5-6 ft above the 103 if i left the goundplane kit on it. Idont have a Gp kit on my imax it just the imax and a 4 inches below it is the 103 i know if i had a GP kit in my imax2000 it would hav eto be up above the beam 6-8 ft i just miss understood you sorry

 

[airplane1]

well i decided in the 103 and the maco 5 above, I am going to the 8ft mark. what is a good mast material to use hence it will be so long? my bearing takes up to 2in. mast. I am going to put the 103 right at the top of the tower at mast bearing and I will be using an Alliance 73 HD for rotor will this be a good enough setup?

 

[RoadWarrior]

Roger,

Your tower is NOT going to have a hinge plate to
swing tower up and down. Am i correct on this???
I don't have a clear picture on how you want to
do this.
Everyone has different ideas and views on such an
assembly.[p]\ whoops my cat walked on keyboard...lol
With having a beam on a tower, I have found having a hinge-plate and winching system to work great for raising it up and down. If something happens to rotor or antenna, you can bring beam and rotor down to you.
If i was doing the assembly. I would have my rotor mounted
on a plate 5-8 ft inside the tower. I would mount 2 HD
Thrust bearings on plates spaced above the rotor (inside tower) I'm not familar with the rotor you have, so, i really can't say whether or not it would work for your assembly.
I would use 1 5/8" or bigger thick walled Galvinized pipe.
If your not going to have a Hinge-plate you will have to
figure out how your going to get it up there. Bucket Truck
or some similar method. And if something happens to
antennas or rotor you will have to figure out how to get
it back down, probably using same methods as i mentioned
above. Some people run a pipe the whole way through
the tower and have Rotor mounted near the ground.
This method requires a Large Rotor with HD Thrust
Bearings mounted on plates throughout the inside of
the tower or the weight would crush the rotor.
If your planning on mounting a rotor above your tower.
This i would not personally try unless you were just
using the flatside beam and not having a Omni mounted
above it..... Just my thoughts.....

 

[High Miler]

You ain't kiddin' 'bout the hinge plate... I had to find out the hard way... TRUST ME...

 

[2at124]

hinge on tower

yeah that the truth ihad to climb a 60ft 3years ago in january wow was it cold my hands didnt fellwarm untill july lol

 

[High Miler]

Funny... I was thinking the same thing the day I hung a Sloper off my tower in December... I thought "Man if I have to climb all the way up to fix anything.... "

Wouldn't ya know it... 2 weeks later to the top to replace Coax for my 2 Meter Beam... Talk about Fridgid!!!

Brrrrrr..........