Hi Don,
I just put up the HEX beam last week to replace my TA33jr tribander.
Right now it is only about 25 feet up at it's base but it seemed to play
well over the weekend for the little time I was in the contest. Having 5
bands at the press of a band switch on my IC756 (not pro) is great. I put
it together in about four hours by myself taking extra care to get it right.
I think now I could do it in much less time and even the first time with a
second pair of hands it would have gone quicker.
(I would suggest putting tape over the set screws that hold the elements
together). I then carried the antenna up a ladder to my lower roof and then
up to the second level of the roof by myself with no real problems. It only
weighs about 19 lbs. I then lifted it up and slid it onto the rotor with no
problems. Just remember to put the coax lead on the antenna first as it
will almost impossible to do it after (brain cramp on my part).
The SWR is low enough to not even need the built in antenna tuner on the
rig. Everything is below 1.45:1 except the low end of 17 meters and from
28.5 up but they are only running at 1.67:1. I used my Ameritron amp with
it and had now problems up to the amps rated output of 800W. Had good
reports on the bands and busted a few pile ups on first call both barefoot
and with the amp.
The best recommendation for this antenna is this is what Chuck, 3Y0C, on
Bouvet took with him and was the only antenna left standing the last I
heard. another benefit is that it looks like a satellite dish to the
neighbors. They also can't tell if it is pointed at them like the they
could with the Yagi.
In closing I like it very much and plan to use it mobile with a
motorhome when my wife and I hit the road next year even though it is
designed as a fixed site antenna it will go together easily and not require
a big mast to produce lots of signals on 5 bands /wo a tunner.
Any questions I can help you or anyone else with please contact me at
chris.blakely@verizon.net .
73
Chris AB1R
----- Original Message -----
From: "Don Hill AA5AU" <aa5au@bellsouth.net>
To: "WriteLog Reflector" <Writelog@contesting.com>; "WF1B Reflector"
<wf1b-rtty@wf1b.com>
Sent: Sunday, March 04, 2001 22:13 PM
Subject: [WriteLog] Hex Beams
>
> Anyone using any of the Hex Beams that are being sold by Traffie
> Technology? http://www.traffietech.com/index.html
>
> I understand they are expensive, but with the smallish size and weights,
> they may be something I might be interested in. I'd like to hear how they
> perform.
>
> Thanks,
> Don, AA5AU
> http://www.geocities.com/aa5au/
>
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