[Elecraft] Need advice on Small Tower

Tue Jul 12 09:44:04 EDT 2016

I don't have the tilt base. I bought my MA40 and beam used, so not sure of
its age. Quality seems fine.
I made an adapter for a cordless drill to allow me to crank it up and down
without cranking.
Vic is correct that the TA33Jr is a little more narrow banded than some
leather beams. However, I use it successfully on both CW and SSB without a
tuner. It has a lot less wind load than a full sized triband beam, which is
important with a tower of that type if the rotor is placed at the top as I
have it.
Might not be as big an issue if you rotate the whole tower.
On Tue, Jul 12, 2016 at 8:28 AM Mel Farrer via Elecraft <
elecraft at mailman.qth.net> wrote:

> Don't discount the Hex Beam concept.
> Mel, K6KBE
>
>
>       From: Vic Rosenthal 4X6GP <k2vco.vic at gmail.com>
>  To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net; Terry Brown <n7tb at comcast.net>
>  Sent: Tuesday, July 12, 2016 6:12 AM
>  Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Need advice on Small Tower
>
> Hello Terry,
>
> In my opinion, there will be no problem. I can imagine that if the tower
> is right at the house and if there is a strip of metal flashing along
> the peak of the roof it might detune the director slightly when the
> antenna is pointed east. Maybe. But I can't believe it will cause you
> any trouble. Anyway, with the tilt base you will have to install it some
> distance from the house.
>
> Remember the tilt base and the rotor plus mast will add to the height of
> the tower. US Towers also makes a 55-footer. It's a lot more expensive,
> though.
>
> I don't recommend the TA33-JR. Because of the short boom length it will
> have a narrow bandwidth on 20m. If you operate both CW and SSB you may
> find that you need to use a tuner. Your old ATB-34 is slightly bigger,
> but has a wider bandwidth.
>
> There are newer designs for small beams that are better than the
> venerable TA-33.
>
> Also if you can find one that works on 18 MHz too, that will be a plus.
> In the next few years, 10 and 15m will be dead much of the time.
>
> 73,
> Vic, 4X6GP
> Rehovot, Israel
> Formerly K2VCO
> http://www.qsl.net/k2vco/
>
> On 12 Jul 2016 04:21, Terry Brown wrote:
> > Hello all,
> >
> > I am the owner if a K2, KX3, PX3, and KXPA100.  I have been a ham since
> > 1982, and love my Elecraft gear.  I have a question for the group.  I am
> > moving from my current QTH in Corvallis, OR  after 30 years.  Currently I
> > have a Rohn 25 based tower that is about 35 feet above my flat roof.  On
> the
> > tower is a tri-band Cushcraft ATB-34 and 2m/440 comet antennas.  The beam
> > and tower  date from the time I became a ham.
> >
> > I am building a new home in an established neighborhood in West Salem,
> > Oregon.  The CCRs have expired, so I am not restricted from a tower
> setup.
> > My new QTH is high in the west hills of Salem.  The view to the east is
> > amazing as the ground slopes away.  To the west, the terrain has a slight
> > rise.  I am 68 yrs. old.  I don't want to have to climb a tower again.
> My
> > home will be two stories with the garage level under it.  The peak of my
> > roof will be about 34 ft. above grade.  My new tower location will be
> about
> > 32 feet from grade to the peak of the roof.  The roofline will run N-S
> with
> > the tower on the west side of the house.  \
> >
> > I have decided to purchase a new smaller lightweight crankup tower and a
> > smaller  tribander such as the Mosley TA-33 JR-N or NW.  I have seen the
> US
> > Towers MA-40,  a 20-41ft. crankup as one type.  It comes with a tilt over
> > base add-on which would allow me to service the antenna from the ground.
> > This particular two section tower can crank down to 20 ft., thus not
> being
> > visible from the street east of the house.  It's max height is 41 ft.
> which
> > would put the antenna only 9-10 ft. above the roofline when transmitting
> to
> > the East.  I want to put a winch on the tower so I don't have to
> physically
> > crank it up by hand as I get older.  With this background I have two
> > questions:
> >
> > 1.    Will the yagi attached to the tower with only 9-10 ft. height above
> > the roofline (41 ft. tower)  be an effective radiator and receive
> antenna on
> > 20-15-10 meter bands to the East?  Being on the West Coast, this will be
> the
> > direction of most of my mainland US contacts.  To the N-W-S, the antenna
> > will be 41 ft. above the ground, so no problem.
> >
> > 2.    I am not committed to any particular crankup tower.  The US Tower
> is
> > just the one I have seen on the internet.  I would be interested in any
> > lighterweight fold over crank up tower up to 50 ft.  I think a tubular
> > constructed type tower would be my preference due to weight of
> installation.
> > A triangular designed crankup may be ok, too.
> >
> > I know I can have a larger tower and antenna, but I want my setup to be
> > neighbor friendly.  I am not a contester, and will never operate over 100
> > watts.  It is nice to be able to work a station if I can hear it.  I also
> > want the advantage of a horizontally polarized antenna with gain.  I have
> > been spoiled with that setup over the years.
> >
> > Just as an aside, my other antenna is a horizontal loop about 250 ft. in
> > length that I use for all the other bands.  It is up about 30 ft.
> suspended
> > from the trees in my current QTH.  I feed it with 450 ohm ladder into a
> 4:1
> > balun to coax.  At my new QTH, we will plant two contained planters with
> 20
> > or 30 ft. bamboo on the SW and NW corners of my property where I can put
> a
> > vertical pipe for two supports, then use the peak of my roof on the N
> and S
> > side at 34 Ft. for my NE and SE contact points for my other two corners
> for
> > my horizontal loop.  I will feed it with the same 450 ohm ladder from
> the NE
> > corner.  I really like my horizontal loop because it is so quiet being
> > horizontally polarized.  My current one works great so I want the same
> thing
> > for my new QTH.
> >
> > I look forward to getting some great input from this group.  I have been
> > amazed at the level of quality information I have seen on this group.
> >
> > Thanks in advance to you all.
> > 73's,
> > Terry Brown, N7TB
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