Jon:
I bought a SKyhawk in 1999 and installed it in late 2001 (natural
procrastinator, I guess.) Check out my posting
http://lists.contesting.com/_towertalk/2001-December/043334.html on my
first impressions on the antenna's performance.
The main reason I bought it was because I didn't have to decide just
WHERE in any band I wanted it to operate. It's bandwidth was broad enough
on all bands that I didn't need a tuner anywhere except above 28.9 MHz. (I
used a homebrew coax balun because the Bencher balun went flakey on me above
11 MHz. I used it on my 40M rotatable dipole twelve feet above the Skyhawk
on the same mast.)
You might want to get the driven element stabilizers from Bencher for
it, though, especially if you're going to run QRO. These plastic
doo-hickeys keep the DEs at the same separation from each other during high
winds. Otherwise, the feedpoint impedance will dance around, as will the
SWR, driving an autotune amp nuts trying to keep up.
I agree with K4OJ - If it's a good price and in good condition, buy it.
It's very little wind area for so capable an antenna.
-----Original Message-----
From: na9d@speakeasy.net <na9d@speakeasy.net>
To: towertalk@contesting.com <towertalk@contesting.com>
To: <towertalk@contesting.com>
Date: Tuesday, January 21, 2003 11:03 AM
Subject: [Towertalk] Bencher Skyhawk Questions
Hi gang,
I have been planning on getting a new beam to replace my aging TA-33.
The antenna I have been considering is a Force-12 C4XSL, but I am also
interested in the Bencher Skyhawk. The main advantage of the Force-12 model
that I can see is that it has 2 elements on 40 meters.
But I have an opportunity to purchase a Skyhawk for a very good price.
Is the Skyhawk a good antenna? I have heard very positive things on it but
I wanted to ask the TT folks here as well!
73,
Jon
NA9D
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