[Antennas] Best 'no radials' HF vertical?

Fri, 16 Aug 2002 04:50:09 -0500

I have done really well with Cushcraft verticals.  I had
an R8 and was very happy with it but lightning did
it in.....  I now have an R6000 up about 30 feet and
work plenty of DX with it.

good luck & 73,
Phil
W5BVB

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim Shaw" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, August 15, 2002 11:05 PM
Subject: [Antennas] Best 'no radials' HF vertical?

> Because verticals with 'no radials' are sometimes an emotional topic, I
have
> been hesitant to ask for feedback on them.  However, due to a sudden
> decrease in my already limited space for antennas, I am now seriously
> contemplating the acquisition of a 'no radials' vertical antenna in order
to
> remain on the air until I can move to a new QTH with more space.
Hopefully,
> I can obtain a vertical that covers all bands, including WARC, from 40
thru
> 10 M and will take the full legal power limit.
>
> From what I can tell, there are three commercial possibilities:  1) the
> Cushcraft R8, 2) the Hy-Gain AV-640, and 3) the Hy-Gain DX-77A.  In order
to
> familiarize myself with what kind of performance I might expect, I
obtained
> the publication "HF Vertical Performance Test Methods and Results" by N0AX
> and K7LXC published in 2000 and obtainable via
> http://www.championradio.com/forsale/ .  This report compared the
Cushcraft
> R8 'no radials' vertical to the Butternut HF6V, MFJ 1798, Force-12 ZR-3,
> Diamond CP-6, Hustler 6BTV, Force-12 V-3, and Gap Titan.  In addition,
from
> my own personal experience, I've used the Cushcraft R-4 (the very first
> commercial 'no radials' HF vertical?) as a 'backup' antenna for nearly 15
> years.
>
> I had pretty much settled in on the R8 because, among other things, it
uses
> fewer traps than the Hy-Gain DX-77A.  Also, its 'counterpoise' elements
are
> only 4 feet long thus I could install it in a space no wider that 9 feet
by
> 9 feet.  However, recently, I noticed that Hy-Gain now offers a new, 'no
> radials' vertical' - the AV-640.  This new AV-640 not only has 'no
radials',
> it also has 'no traps'!  I downloaded the manual and found that it
contains
> a nice 'theory of operations' discussion and the design makes a lot of
sense
> to me.  But, I'm no expert on this topic.
>
> So, assuming you were limited to putting up a single 'no radials' vertical
> and wanted to operate high power on 40 thru 10 M, which one of these three
> verticals would you choose and why?  Or, is there a better alternative
> possible within my limited space that I have not considered?
>
> 73 de Jim [email protected]
>
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