[SJRA-Members] Gap Titan DX vertical

[Edward A. Cienki]

Rick:

I owned a GAP Titan. I have limited space and found the GAP to be well constructed and within limitations a good antenna. While not cheap, there are HF verticals that are a lot more expensive.  My comments follow:

1. While it says no ground radials are required... and while that is technically true... I found caveats... such as mounting the antenna above ground (say 10 ft minimum... I don't remember how high my antenna was mounted) on a tower or on top of a tall structure (your house). I mounted mine on the ground and found the loss of signal to be too much of a compromise. So, I raised it up off the ground.   Also, mounting it on the ground takes up a lot of real estate due to the size of the radials on the antenna. In the end I did end up putting down a bunch of ground radials.

2. If you are intending on working 75/80m, the 100 KHz is very narrow (or it was just to narrow for me at least‎). I spend a lot of time on 75m / 160m (I have a double bazooka tuned for 1950 MHz) phone late at night.

3. There are a lot of parts. IMHO, prepare to spend the day putting it up.

4. If you buy it, mount it high enough and buy a tilt over mount to be able to tilt the antenna over for servicing.‎ You won't regret it.

5. I was shorted a couple of parts, nothing major... just an inconvenience.  But, I did have to take a trip to the local Home ‎Depot for some stainless steel parts. So, I would advise performing a detailed inventory to make sure you have everything before starting your build.

In the end I found the narrow bandwidth on 75m/80m‎ to be too much of a restriction... at least for me. If you are not working that band or can live with the narrow BW, you'll likely be very happy with it. My experience was I found the antenna to be well made‎ and of quality parts.

As alternatives... I replaced mine with a wire antenna, a Cobra Ultralite Senior (www.k1jek.com) for $125.00 plus shipping. It says 10m - 160m and is rated for 1KW. But, the double bazooka is far superior on 160m. It works great elsewhere. I did solder the spade connectors and then used coax seal on them. All of the parts are stainless steel... so, no rust. I also bought a Palstar 4:1 Current Balun (Model BK4N 4:1) rated at 4KW (a bit overkill as the antenna is rated at 1KW max). The Balun is for indoor use only and therefore the ladder line goes into my shed where it is then connected to the Balun.   I have a Palstar AT-Auto and frequently find that no tuner is needed. I will confess that the ladder line got caught in the trees and therefore, I had to replace it once. No big deal.

And if you want a vertical, check out the ZeroFive antenna line. They are reasonably priced and are highly rated on eHam.  (www.zerofive-antennas.com)

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family and to the SJRA Family!!

73, Ed, N2EAC‎/100


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