The 617-6B is a very old design. If you look at the manual is is dated
9/91. It was designed before antennas were computer modeled. More boom
usually means more gain *IF* you have enough elements to produce that
gain. At 33 feet plus of boom the 617-6B needed another element. There
are one or two newer designs for the 617-6B out on the internet that
include a 7th element.
If you believe modeling, which I do, the 6M7 is indeed a better antenna.
Both gain wise and front to back. IMO it is no contest unless you want
to mod the 617-6B with an extra element. The 6M7 is a better antenna
than the stock 617-6B and has about 2/3 the wind load.
As for 6m Es being either open or closed and any antenna will work I beg
to differ.
http://www.qrz.com/db/K0GU
Just like any band or mode you can do things with gain that are not
possible otherwise.
73, Jay K0GU
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
|