Bob, for my money a quad can't be beat! I know that you will receive many
comments by Yagi owners to the contrary. I don't mean to flame them but
they must defend their decision to go with a Yagi... and the only
justifiable defense on their part is that they believe a Yagi will
outperform a quad.
My experience began in 1958 when, working with Dr. August Raspet in his
labs at Mississippi State University, I discovered that the proper formula
for a quad was 1004/Fmhz = Length in feet as opposed to the very widespread
belief (by W6SAI and others at that time) that a quad's dimensions were
correctly measured like those of a yagi: i.e., 1/4 wave sides should be
less than a 1/4 wave in free space. This was all wet. Where the wires come
together in the corners, there is a certain amount of cancelling that
requires the quad's overall wavelength dimensions to be longer than a full
wavelength in free space. I began at that time, with great success, to
build all my quads with that formula.
In 1966, while living in Tucson, I built a 3 el 20, 4 el 15, and 4 el 10
meter quad on a 20 foot boom. I entered the ARRL DX Contest with a homebrew
300 watt transmitter and won for the state of Arizona in competition with
all the monobander Yagis and highpower contestors. I wrote an article about
that quad for QST (Feb 1967 issue) entitled "Practical Consideration and
Application in a Multi-element Quad".
After a stint in Southeast Asia and Europe I came back to find that I had
lost all my QSLs and log books in the moves. I started all over again in
1991 with a 2 el quad at 55 feet. I worked 280 countries in one year and
got my 5BDXCC.... mostly because of the outstanding performance of that 2
element quad. I now am on the DXCC Honor Roll, in less than 5 years. I am
forced, through my current geographical situation and trees at the base of
the tower, to use a TH7DXX and a 402-CD but I wish I had my quad up
there!!! It is quieter, has a slightly lower angle of radiation due to the
effective stacking of the horizontal 1/4 wave elements (I use box
configuration quads) will open a band 10 minutes earlier and hold it open
10 minutes later than a yagi at the same height. (Ran many, many tests with
WA7CSN over long-haul DX with carriers to determine gain figures and band
opening phenomena). I could go on for hours about the various strong points
of quads versus Yagis. A properly designed and built 2 el quad will
definitely outperform a 3 element monobander. Yagis prime strength, when
compared to a quad, is undeniably just that: their strength.
I recommend the Lightning Bolt Quad, based on the comments by those that
have them in ice-storm prone areas that have successfully weathered those
conditions.... Lightning Bolt quads have very strong spreaders that are
shippable by way of UPS. No, I have no affiliation or investment in
Lightning Bolt.... just a lot of respect for their construction.
Let me know what you decide and how you fare. I am interested in the outcome.
73 and best DX. Rod
Roderick M. Fitz-Randolph
w5hvv@aeneas.net
79 Highland Hills Cove,
Jackson, TN 38305
(901) 661-9278 (Phone - after 10 AM and prior to 9 PM)
(901) 664-7539 (FAX - any time of day or night)
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