Hi John,
Some random thought for your consideration:
1. What is your intended use - DX? Contesting? General Ragchew? Based on
the number of times you call shows up in my contest log I'll guess it's
contesting. Consider that the fast directional switching of a 4-SQ on 80m
has its advantages. If you have a separate receive array, this can become
moot, but you may want a supplemental single vertical for all directional TX
in contesting - especially for all area contests like WPX or SS...
2. How are the general soil conditions in your area? If you have really
poor soil conditions in your area then horizontally polarized antennas will
typically outperform verticals.
3. The old saying about 80m Yagi's is the challenge is not necessarily
putting them up, it's keeping them aloft...
4. How much useable bandwidth are you looking for? It can be a challenge
to cover both the CW & DX Phone window with a yagi and maintain a decent F/B
- especially if it utilizes shortened elements. A lot of shortened 2-EL's
have a relatively broad matching range, but don't really outperform a
rotatable dipole over most of their SWR bandwidth.
5. At ~half wavelength in height, I believe a 2-element beam has about the
same gain as a 4-square (with a decent radial field) down at the lower
radiation angles. The Yagi will have a definite gain advantage at higher
wave angles, but remember that can significantly reduce S/N for low angle
signal reception.
6. IMHO, a good receiving only antenna system is very worthwhile investment
- even if you only use a single vertical TX antenna. There are several
receive only antenna options that will significantly outperform both the
4-SQ and a 2 EL Yagi. Most of these will also cover several or all of the
low bands as well.
7. Last but not least... which antenna system is more maintainable? As
the saying goes, s### happens...
Hope this helps spur some ideas.
GL on your project.
73
Matt
KM5VI
On 2/10/2020 17:40, john nistico wrote:
>
> So the 4th tower is up at my Virginia qth and I been pondering what to do
on 80 meters. I am thinking of a 2 element yagi on the tallest tower(180 ft)
but I have used a 3 element vertical wire beam which works well. Never tried
a 4 squre so what are your thoughts?
> Sent from Mail<https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986> for
> Windows 10
>
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