[50mhz] 50 Mhz antennas

[Paul Deyo]

Cushcraft bashing....... Well, I had a 2 meter ringo about 20 years ago that
wasn't much.  In dry weather it was fine, in the rain the swr went sky high.
In an ice storm it was useless.  One the other hand, I purchased an R8
vertical last year at the Charlotte hamfest and have been very satisfied
with it.  Instructions were good, went together very well (was fun to put
the 10 million parts together!), operates very well on 6 meters and all
other bands for a vertical.  The only complaint is hoisting the mother into
the vertical position, it was like balancing a heavy weight on the end of a
long and weak piece of fiberglass.  Any little movement at the bottom caused
it to wobble in the middle.  Once bolted down it has done fine and withstood
some pretty hefty thunderstorms here in the south.  I don't relish taking it
down the change the center frequencies.
Paul

> Cush Craft...
>  I have only had a long term experience with their 11 meter Ringo antenna.
>  It did not stand up to Rochester NY weather.
>  The antenna connector (SO239 type) became unusable after a few years, and
> the antenna would no longer match properly.
>  I found that it developed a leakage path across the insulator.
>  I don't recall if the beam I had was CC or otherwise.
>
>  Most of the manufacturers tended to give gain ratings over isotropic, and
> that source was never identified (dummy load? 1/4 wave ground plane?)
>  I trust the rating over 1/2 wave dipole a bit more.
>
>  Wayne WA2YNE
>  CM97no