I think if you're close to a metropolitan area with a lot of people to
work who are close by, the log periodic is the way to go. Some of the
Rovers in the Chicago area I know use LPDA's. My favorite portable
location is about 100 miles from the closest stations I work. I have
found it's advantageous to use a separate, larger beam with more gain
for each band.
73, Zack W9SZ
On Thu, Sep 14, 2017 at 7:45 AM, Patrick Thomas <p-thomas@mindspring.com> wrote:
> Like all things in contesting, I think it depends on one's goals and
> circumstances. Sure, an LPDA will not perform as well as long (maybe even
> mid-length) yagis. But... it also will cost less, take up less space in the
> vehicle, take up less space/weight on the mast, take less time to set up
> (assuming you start from scratch), and will only require one run of heavy
> coax. Plus obviously AN antenna will outperform NO antenna! And as others
> have mentioned, you can use it for a backup "any band that failed" antenna in
> the future, if you later graduate to a higher-performing setup.
>
> Cheap surplus coax switches of good quality show up fairly often on ebay that
> can handle frequencies up to 1-2 GHz at a couple hundred watts, switching
> between 6-10 connectors, and these are easily controlled by anything from an
> automated arduino to a pushbutton control panel, so I would not be turned off
> by the need for a switch.
>
> Just my thoughts on the matter. I considered building my own LPDA as there
> are many good calculators out there, but ended up with a large van for a rove
> vehicle, which will happily swallow many large antennas. Now if it would
> just run reliably....
>
> Patrick
> KB8DGC
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