[Elecraft] Verticals

[Doug Person via Elecraft]

I have to agree.  The R5 was terrible.  In a restricted neighborhood I 
planted one about 8 feet off the ground painted with camo colors. I got 
out - but not well.  I decided to try the GAP Titan.  Night and day 
difference.  I eventually went to a pair of phased verticals on 20 with 
elevated radials - 4 each.  Killer antenna system.  I made the radiators 
out of steel conduit welded together.  Eventually I put up a compact, 
multi-band dipole (W9INN design SK RIP).  I had the best of both 
worlds.  I could switch between vertical or horizontal radiators and go 
with which ever gave the best results. I still have very much the same 
setup.  A 3 element beam often did not produce as good a signal as the 
phased verticals.

73, Doug -- K0DXV

On 9/11/2014 3:51 PM, David Gilbert wrote:
>
> Not to heap coals on the fire, but I also owned an early R5 and it was 
> a terrible performer.  I had it over a year and when I finally got rid 
> of it and put up a simple 20m vertical in the exact same spot on the 
> roof and fed it against random length wires as a "ground plane", the 
> improvement was astounding.  I don't think the basic concept was so 
> bad, but the implementation was horrible.  I realized what I had as 
> soon as I opened up that little box at the base and saw what some 
> clueless person thought could act like a matching network.
>
> In general, though, I think it is a mistake to characterize all 
> verticals a poor performers.  It's all a function of efficiency 
> (avoiding losses) and location.  Check out the ground conductivity 
> charts across the U.S. and you'll see huge differences, with some 
> areas essentially acting as terrestrial dummy loads.  Nearby 
> structures that can absorb energy or distort patterns represent other 
> possible culprits for bad results with verticals.  I used nothing but 
> verticals for most of three decades, but mine were always on a flat 
> roof and well in the clear of anything nearby.
>
> 73,
> Dave   AB7E
>
>
> On 9/11/2014 5:29 AM, Barry wrote:
>> Bill Levy wrote
>>> I had no trouble at all keeping in touch with my family using an 
>>> early R5
>>> vertical in 5H3 land when I was working there.
>>>
>>> Bill N2WL
>>> ex 5H3WL, 5Z4PI and VQ9WL
>> Having those callsigns gave you an extra 20 db gain.  I've tried a few
>> verticals over the years and found them to be poor performers.
>>
>> Barry W2UP
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> -- 
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