Ken I have used 4 Hytowers in a 80m 4 sq array for about 10 years. The
stubs for all bands were removed . I used the towers in their 52 ft
form, feeding the center wire at first. Bandwidth was quite narrow.
Later I modified the towers to short the stinger to the top of the
tower. The stinger was lengthened by using a 20 ft piece of .058 wall 2
inch tubing substituted for the shorter 2 inch tube. I sleeved the lower
end with a 10 ft piece of 1 7/8 x .058. I added enough small tubing on
the top of the stinger to reach resonance using various pieces from my
scrap pile and no 2 were the same, Hi. The total length was then around
65 ft instead of 52 ft in the original job. Bandwidth was improved
considerably with this change. This was intended to be a short term fix
until I worked Z23 for my last on 80m. I am pretty sure the tower and
possibly the stinger are overloaded but I have used the towers this way
for several years with no structural failures. Most of this time was in
the Dallas area where winds are pretty severe. Now 2 of the towers are
in the Spokane area after a move to the northwest.
The tips sway a lot in the wind and it looks as if they might develop
fatigue cracks in the tower or stingers but it has not happened. I don't
recommend this design but it has survived so far.
If you are interested in using the Hytower as an all band antenna, it
works rather well on 40 and 80m. On the higher bands, the extended
vertical configuration puts a lot of energy out at high angles and it is
not a very good antenna. 73, Dan, N5AR
KenK1ZYW@aol.com wrote:
>
> Any one have any experience w/ Hy-gain Hy-tower?
>
> De Ken K1ZYW
>
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