I would NOT recomment an A4 with the 40 meter add on kit. My expierence
with it is that is really goof's up 20.
I put one up for a friend a number of years ago and took it down soon after
and removed the 40 meter portion. It really "narrows up" the bandwidth on
20.
I will say that the A4 does work well, although there are certainly better
antennas available (no traps).
YMMV
******************************************************
Michael Murphy - KD8OK
kd8ok@n-focus.com
mmuphy@n-focus.com
******************************************************
----- Original Message -----
From: "Stone, Gary R." <Gary.Stone@va.gov>
To: "mike ryan" <mryan001@tampabay.rr.com>
Cc: <towertalk@contesting.com>
Sent: Wednesday, March 22, 2006 1:09 PM
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Force 12 Antenna Question
> Well, here is my view: I wanted my new installation to cover 7 bands
> with beam antennas. I opted for the OptiBeam OB17-4 with the Force12
> WARC-7 12 feet above the Optibeam. Seven bands covered with no less
> than 2 elements and the only bands with less than full size elements is
> 40 and 30. And I wanted no traps. I used a Cushcraft A4S for many years
> and got on the SSB Honor Roll with that antenna and had zero problems,
> but it is trapped and I was just starting to think I needed a
> replacement.
>
> Now, I am not sure if my choice was the correct choice and it was
> definitely and expensive choice. There is an OptiBeam now that has all
> 7 bands on one antenna - with at least 2 elements on each band - I would
> seriously look at that if I were doing it again.
>
> As to your questions about the XR-5 or the Cushcraft duo one advantage
> to the Cushcraft duo is the fact that you can add rotatable dipole for
> 30 and 40 meters and that would then give you 7 bands coverage and I
> don't think there is such an option with the XR-5. The other concern I
> would have with the XR-5 is its performance in a windy area? It appears
> that the elements are fairly close together as it is a fairly short
> boom. I would then suspect the wind could cause SWR problems.
>
> I am very interested in your responses. If all else aside I would
> choose the Cushcraft duo over the XR-5 (at least I think that is what I
> would do).
>
> Gary, N5PHT
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: towertalk-bounces@contesting.com
> [mailto:towertalk-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of mike ryan
> Sent: Wednesday, March 22, 2006 11:05 AM
> To: towertalk@contesting.com
> Subject: [TowerTalk] Force 12 Antenna Question
>
> Gentlemen, I asked this question a couple of weeks ago and did not get a
> big response so perhaps you guys were cleaning your garages that day.
> This is always the place to ask questions and the answers are always
> informative so here we go.
>
> I need to make a decision as to whether to use my Force 12 XR-5 beam or
> my Cushcraft A-4 and an A-3WS. The Force 12 supposedly has only 2
> elements per band and does not brag about a lot of gain. Is this just
> not that great of a beam?? The Cushcraft is no peach either I am sure
> but given just the choice of the Cushcraft pair over the XR-5 what does
> the brain trust here recommend.GO AT IT GUYS! And as always thank you
> for your input. It is appreciated. - Mike
> _______________________________________________
>
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