I remember Gotham quite well. I also learned the hard way that cheap was
not necessarily good! I bought a 4 element 15 meter yagi from them from an
ad in QST. When I put it up I could work just as many stations off the
front as I could off the back and sides and with no difference in signal
strength! The SWR was 10 to 1 at the lowest. I took it down that same day
when the elements kept becoming verticals and was never put back up! I used
the aluminum for other antennas! That was about 1970 and it took very
little power on 15 to work anybody! I did not make the mistake of buying
any of their other antennas!
Sounds like my experience was typical!
Jim Pruitt
----- Original Message -----
From: <n8de@thepoint.net>
To: "Pete Raymond" <n4kw@wildblue.net>
Cc: <towertalk@contesting.com>; <donovanf@starpower.net>
Sent: Monday, July 09, 2007 8:10 PM
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Gotham antennas
> From my index file:
> K1JYN Central Falls, RI .. worked 1959,1960,1967,1972 on 80m 40m and 20m
CW
> Also worked K1JYN/1 on 40m and 80m CW in 1966
>
> W1CMH Cranston, RI .. worked on 20m CW in 1957 SS
>
> Memories are made of this!
> Don
> N8DE
> ex-W8QHW
>
> Quoting Pete Raymond <n4kw@wildblue.net>:
>
> > Well my paper route would only allow for a V80 in 57 as KN1BFX, dropped
the
> > N later that year. It would be interesting to find out who the owners
were
> > and if they were hams. As for K1JYN and W1CMH. CMH sounds familiar to
me
> > but cannot place either of them. Boy does this stuff bring back the
> > memories.
> > 73 Pete N4KW
> >
> >
> >>
> >> ---- Original message ----
> >>> Date: Mon, 9 Jul 2007 14:40:47 -0400
> >>> From: "jeremy-ca" <km1h@jeremy.mv.com>
> >>> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Gotham antennas
> >>> To: "Pete Raymond" <n4kw@wildblue.net>, "James C. Garland"
> >>> <4cx250b@muohio.edu>, <towertalk@contesting.com>
> >>>
> >>> Good stories from all.
> >>>
> >>> Gotham started in Harlem, NY, moved when the area got unhealthy, to
Queens
> >>> for a short time and then to Florida.
> >>>
> >>> The average kid, and some older hams, that bought the verticals didnt
> >>> understand about radial systems. Attaching the coax shield to a ground
rod
> >>> just didnt cut it. Same could be said about some modern newbies and
> >>> misleading info from some manufacturers.
> >>>
> >>> My 15M 3el stayed up fine for about 4 years and then my folks asked me
to
> >>> take it down since I was in the Navy and home as little as I could
manage!
> >>> Two years later I was working for National Radio in Malden, MA
> >>>
> >>> Carl
> >>> KM1H
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> KM1H
> >>>>
> >>>> ----- Original Message -----
> >>>> From: "James C. Garland" <4cx250b@muohio.edu>
> >>>> To: <towertalk@contesting.com>
> >>>> Sent: Monday, July 09, 2007 10:10 AM
> >>>> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] antennas
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>> I DO remember all those Gotham ads. But, curiously, I never actually
> >>>>> talked
> >>>>> to anybody who actually was using one. Even in the 1950s, Gotham
prices
> >>>>> seemed impossibly low. I always wondered if they worked and how well
> >>>>> they
> >>>>> were constructed? And if nobody bought them, how did the company pay
> >>>>> for
> >>>>> all
> >>>>> those QST and CQ magazine ads?
> >>>>> Jim W8ZR
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
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