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My previous postings promised some on air test results of the Bencher
Skyhawk. It is
just being advertised in the magazines. I purchased the antenna from
Universal Radio in
October, assembled it in November, put it up in December and used it for
the first time
in January (finally).
I put up photos of the antenna going up with instructions on how this is
done by a tram
line. This is some detail and lots of photos. The url is:
http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~rodman/skyhawk.html
The antennas: 10 meter stack 6/6 element 60/30' as shown on the web
page. 30' boom.
15 meter stack 6/6 element 100/45': 36' boom
20 meter stack 5/5 element 140/70': 44' boom
Bencher Skyhawk triband 90': 22' boom
10 Meters:
I listened to several European stations about 1600-1700UTC. Listening
carefully
showed the Skyhawk to be 1/2 S-unit weaker than the upper 6 element
monoband
yagi for most European stations. The Skyhawk was stronger than the
lower antenna
alone by an S unit. The stack was stronger than the Skyhawk by one S
unit. Signal
reports received by European stations were generally in agreement with
my receiving
reports above.
15 Meters:
I made no contacts. The Skyhawk appeared to be less effective on this
band than
on 10 meters. However, the band was changing and only a few European
stations
were actually on the band. I will defer any meaningful comments until I
can get on
with further testing, hopefully in an early weekend morning or evening
into JA. I would
suspect that the antenna will turn out to be about the same as 10
meters.
20 Meters:
The other reason, I moved to 20 was to catch a spot for ZL1 on long
path. This station
was an S unit down from the stack on transmit and receive when compared
to the
stack antenna. European stations were difficult to tell when individual
antennas were
compared. In general, it appeared that the Bencher was 1/2 S unit below
the individual
yagis and about an S unit below the stack. At times, it was almost
impossible to
determine exactly what antenna I was listening to, but certainly the
Bencher was
holding its own. Moreover, there is an extra 150' of hard line
separating the Skyhawk
from the 15 and 20 m antennas.
Conclusion:
I am suitably impressed with the construction of the Bencher Skyhawk.
It took two
people an afternoon to construct. It is not too hard to put up.
Initial tests show the
antenna performs less effectively than relatively large full size yagis,
but the difference
is just about what would be predicted by computer modeling. Received
signals were
in agreement with transmit reports. I got the impression that the F/B
ratio is similar to
my monoband antennas, but the F/S is not anywhere near as sharp. My
antennas are
almost all custom designed and have very very sharp patterns. I think
this antenna
is very functional and seems to be a nice product.
73, Dave.
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<HTML>
My previous postings promised some on air test results of the Bencher
Skyhawk.
It is
<BR>just being advertised in the magazines. I purchased the antenna
from Universal Radio in
<BR>October, assembled it in November, put it up in December and used it
for the first time
<BR>in January (finally).
<P>I put up photos of the antenna going up with instructions on how this
is done by a tram
<BR>line. This is some detail and lots of photos. The url is:
<P><A
HREF="http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~rodman/skyhawk.html";>http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~rodman/skyhawk.html</A><A
HREF="http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~rodman/skyhawk.html";></A>
<P>The antennas: 10 meter stack 6/6 element 60/30' as shown on the
web page. 30' boom.
<BR>
15 meter stack 6/6 element 100/45': 36' boom
<BR>
20 meter stack 5/5 element 140/70': 44' boom
<BR>
Bencher Skyhawk triband 90': 22' boom
<P>10 Meters:
<P>I listened to several European stations about 1600-1700UTC. Listening
carefully
<BR>showed the Skyhawk to be 1/2 S-unit weaker than the upper 6 element
monoband
<BR>yagi for most European stations. The Skyhawk was stronger than
the lower antenna
<BR>alone by an S unit. The stack was stronger than the Skyhawk by
one S unit. Signal
<BR>reports received by European stations were generally in agreement with
my receiving
<BR>reports above.
<P>15 Meters:
<P>I made no contacts. The Skyhawk appeared to be less effective
on this band than
<BR>on 10 meters. However, the band was changing and only a few European
stations
<BR>were actually on the band. I will defer any meaningful comments
until I can get on
<BR>with further testing, hopefully in an early weekend morning or evening
into JA. I would
<BR>suspect that the antenna will turn out to be about the same as 10 meters.
<P>20 Meters:
<P>The other reason, I moved to 20 was to catch a spot for ZL1 on long
path. This station
<BR>was an S unit down from the stack on transmit and receive when compared
to the
<BR>stack antenna. European stations were difficult to tell when
individual antennas were
<BR>compared. In general, it appeared that the Bencher was 1/2 S
unit below the individual
<BR>yagis and about an S unit below the stack. At times, it was almost
impossible to
<BR>determine exactly what antenna I was listening to, but certainly the
Bencher was
<BR>holding its own. Moreover, there is an extra 150' of hard line
separating the Skyhawk
<BR>from the 15 and 20 m antennas.
<P>Conclusion:
<P>I am suitably impressed with the construction of the Bencher Skyhawk.
It took two
<BR>people an afternoon to construct. It is not too hard to put up.
Initial tests show the
<BR>antenna performs less effectively than relatively large full size yagis,
but the difference
<BR>is just about what would be predicted by computer modeling. Received
signals were
<BR>in agreement with transmit reports. I got the impression that
the F/B ratio is similar to
<BR>my monoband antennas, but the F/S is not anywhere near as sharp.
My antennas are
<BR>almost all custom designed and have very very sharp patterns.
I think this antenna
<BR>is very functional and seems to be a nice product.
<P>73, Dave.
<BR>
<BR> </HTML>
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