[HCARC] Hex beam Antennas

[Dale Gaudier]

Gary:

The laws of physics apply to all antennas, no matter what other people might
say. 

There are many variables involved in how radio waves are propagated. There
may be a few instances when a lossy, low to the ground antenna will
outperform a Yagi, but not most of the time. The Yagi design has been tested
on antenna ranges using calibrated equipment (Google "NBS Yagi test" and
read the Technical Note 688 on Yagi Antenna Design for more info) so we know
what its electrical characteristics are in real life.

Most ham antenna testimonials are anecdotal, of the "A sounded louder than
B" variety, without any adjustment for variables, such as location, time of
day, frequency, propagation, terrain, height above ground, soil
conductivity, distance to the target reception area, power, receiver
sensitivity, take-off angle, etc., etc. That's one reason why QST quit
allowing antenna manufacturers to publish their antenna "gain" numbers in
their ads, unless they could back them up with calibrated antenna range
testing or verifiable computer modeling.

I don't have anything against the Hexbeam - but I don't see anything in
their literature to make me think they've found the Holy Grail of antenna
designs. It's a small beam with bent elements. Until I see the big contest
stations winning with Hexbeams instead of regular Yagis, I would stick to a
regular Yagi and get it up as high as I reasonably can.

73,

Dale - K4DG



-----Original Message-----
From: hcarc-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:hcarc-bounces at mailman.qth.net]
On Behalf Of Gary and Arlene Johnson
Sent: Friday, August 30, 2013 12:29 PM
To: hcarc at mailman.qth.net
Subject: [HCARC] Hex beam Antennas

Was listening on 20 meters while trying to take a knap while pain meds were
kicking in and came across a QSO discussing Hex Beam Antennas.  The guy
talking about them would switch from his  Yagi at 93 feet to his Hex Beam at
22 feet and his signal would get +10 stronger on the R-1000 receiver I am
getting from Fred W0LPD.  The antenna on the R-1000 is just a random wire at
about 8 feet.  References given were
http://www.qsl.net/wy3a/G3TXQ_Broadband_Hex.htm and
http://k4kio.com/index.html

These are broad band at 20 meters and above.  It would be nice to see if it
could include 40 meters.  If they work as advertised (5.0 out of 5 with 85
reviews on EHAM) it would seem to be an outstanding antenna for Field Day.
22-24 feet is easy enough to do with the fiberglass or aluminum military
surplus mast sections.

Gary J
N5BAA
HCARC Secretary 2013
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