[SixClub] Any one hear any Aurora yet?

Fri Aug 6 08:03:43 EDT 2010

I personally prefer two tri banders to a steppIR........( 10,15 & 20 )  &
 (12,17,&30 )

but I have 10 acres of land to put up antennas.

no motors less to break down,

my Mosleys do a fine job for me. at 240 COUNTRIES there no slouch.

           Joey
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Gary - N3JPU" <n3jpu_gary at verizon.net>
To: "World Wide Six Meter Club" <sixclub at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Friday, August 06, 2010 6:50 AM
Subject: Re: [SixClub] Any one hear any Aurora yet?

> For me I felt it was important to save .75dB. Additionally I have found
> on several occasion new LDF4 for $.75 foot and found cases of new
> Andrews N's for $5 each. My last buy was less than 2 years ago when I
> moved to this new QTH. I have N connectors on every antenna (6M, 3L
> SteppIR yagi and even my 160M antenna), personal preference.
>
> I could of made the gain up with the antenna, went back to a Directive
> System 5L from a F12 9L. The 9L played very well but required a lot of
> turning the beam since the F/B was so goo and beamwidth was narrow. Plus
> I wanted to be able to put up the SteppIR I sold the 9L to Joey.
>
> Antenna gain makes all the difference in the world, back in the early
> 2000's I ran only 100W and made WAS in 3 years (my initial VUCC
> submission coincided with my WAS submission), but my antenna was a stack
> of DS 5L's. I really liked that setup but no longer have the mast space
> to accommodate. May have to reconsider, I need 5 more for DXCC on 6 so
> am getting hungry.
>
> BTW, the SteppIR 3L on 6M is a poor performer compared to the dedicated 
> 5L.
>
>
> Gary Mitchelson
> N3JPU Davidsonville, MD   FM18
> http://www.mitchelson.org/
>
> On 8/5/2010 22:46, Roger (K8RI) wrote:
>>
>>
>> On 8/5/2010 5:56 PM, Gary - N3JPU wrote:
>>> You are pretty far south for AU (although on strong AU it will go far
>>> south).
>>>
>>> Yes I have used a LNA Technology GasFET pre-amp on 6M, did not really
>>> help much. When I did WSJT EME it did not help, worked stations the
>>> same, pre-amp or no pre-amp.
>>>
>>> I use LDF-4 Heliax, saves a lot of loss over stuff like LMR-400.
>> 0.463 db/100' while LMR-400 is 0.9 That is about 0.5 db difference for a
>> 100 feet. To me that is not a lot of loss saved. It's also a figure that
>> is unnoticeable whether receiving or transmitting. You can't tell it on
>> receive and the guy on the other end can not detect the difference.
>> Add to that I have found 1/2" Heliax to be fragile and easily kinked.
>> OTOH LMR-400 has a minimum bend radius of one inch, or a repeatable bend
>> radius of 4 inches and it's quite rugged. I had two 100' runs of LDF4
>> with N connectors given to me. I gave away one length and it's unlikely
>> I'll use the other.
>> NOW if I could come up with a couple hundred feed of 7/8" to 1 1/4" with
>> connectors I'd certainly use it. No it's not very flexible, but it's a
>> lot tougher than the 1/2". Unfortunately the last 7/8" run I had was
>> taken out by lightning. It blew a hole in the dielectric about 20' from
>> the antenna making it too short for me to use.
>>
>> In the past I have picked up large coils of 7/8" for the repeater system
>> with connectors...cheap! When I need some it takes a lot of looking and
>> I've still not found any.
>>
>> What I'd really like now are two 90' runs, two 60 foot runs, and three
>> 100 foot runs of 7/8 to 1 1/4" Heliax with connectors, but my hunt has
>> been unsuccessful so far. So I went with LMR-600 which is rugged and
>> cost me $1.29 a foot two years ago.
>>
>> Yes, you are correct in that I do not like 1/2" Heliax. I've had too
>> many mechanical problems with it.
>>
>> 73
>>
>> Roger (K8RI)
>>
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