If you don't need to tri-plex it to two radios, it's hard to beat a
SteppIR. My neighbor K6XX has wrangled my straight 3-el at the top of
my 120 ft tower without difficulty. Standard procedure is to assemble
and test it on the ground, then remove the elements, pull both elements
and boom up the tower, and reassemble. That straight 3-el is light
enough for one strong guy to handle pretty easily, and it's gain is
comparable to any high-efficiency 3-el Yagi (meaning full-size elements,
without traps). If you doubt that, I suggest that you read N6BT's
self-published "Array of Light" book, wherein he debunks some of the
phony claims and "physics from another universe" used in advertising for
some of these products. Some of these ads, for example, claimed greater
gain than an ideal monoband Yagi with the same number of elements and
boom length.
If you do need to tri-plex, I'd look at the new products from G0KSC.
73, Jim K9YC
On 8/6/2017 2:48 PM, K9MA wrote:
My 28 year old TH7 needs to come down for maintenance, and I'm told the trap
end caps MFJ now sells don't last long. I also may be just a matter of luck
that no bugs have moved into any of the traps. So, I'd really like to replace
it with a trapless antenna. The TH7 has served me well, having last been put
up in 1993. It needs to be replaced before I'm too old to climb the tower!
Here are the requirements:
Performance comparable to TH7
Boom length 24 feet or less
No traps or fragile linear loading
Can be assembled on the tower (as was the TH7 in 1993.)
At this point, the Skyhawk appears to be my best option, at least of the
tribanders available in this country. Any experience with the Skyhawk, or
other suggestions?
73,
Scott K9MA
----------
Scott Ellington
--- via iPad
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