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Ok, first and foremost, thank you for all the great reading and info on this site- Well, here's the deal, I am setting up a new and improved station for 10-11meter. I have a rohnBX40 tower and a new in the box Av moonraker 4. Don't ask how, I just do. I love to DX and this will be my first beam. My worry's are problems and up keep with the moonraker. Should I be looking into a Yagi style beam or is the Moonraker 4 all its cracked up to be?

The old Raker 4/6 were both good solid antennas, when put together properly are quite durable, pay attention to detail, don't over tighten (especially the Aluminum alloy hubs) and it should give you many years of service. Also don't skimp on the supporting structure. There are many installs 20+ years old around the country that would talk like the day they were put up.

And yes it does perform well. As for the M104 type Yagi, nothing wrong with it either. couldn't go wrong with either. Personally I would probably Ebay the Raker, and build my own antenna....

I would suggest you use all stainless steel parts where you can and star lock washers, nuts, and bolts too.

You might consider to turn the mast/boom bracket around so you can run the mast up 3'-4' feet and add a guy system to better support the boom. I would also use a good conductive lube with all the tubing parts including the boom, in case you ever want to try and take it apart again. Like MisterFatty pay attention to the details, for sure with the hubs and the SS tips on the elements. I see them often where the tips have worked loose and hang down.

Thanks for the info, I will take my time and do it right. I think the Moonraker is a cool looking antenna and I am excited to get it up in the air. I am in the process of building a mount for my rotor and getting a few support bearings for the mast, as soon as I have everything together I'll post a few Pic's. Agian, Thanks for the info-
Mike

I gave up on Avanti hubs a long time ago. The Moonraker is a nice vert /horiz antenna with a fantastic Quad reflector but mechanically Avanti always paled in comparison to Hygain and others.
Do anything you can to help prevent the hubs from coming loose and spinning on the boom. And as has already been stated:

DON'T OVERTIGHTEN!!

I still have an old original Avanti Sigma5/8 I'd love to sell because I have a Penetrator and prefer the Hygain construction.

I bought irrigation tubing and made my Quad boom from that, drilling through the center of the boom for installing tubing for the fiberglass rod to slide into.

It was built in '88 and is still up, albeit with new wire. I used 16g stranded and it only lasted 12 years.

Use non-metallic paint and paint the fiberglass!!

I prefer to use a few coats of spar varnish. It's available at any hardware store and is made to withstand the harshness of a marine environment and will only slightly change the color of the fiberglass. It hardens and protects for years and years. You also don't have to worry about it being conductive to RF.

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Front/back ratio comes from the antenna. Forward gain comes from the wall socket.

I've ran both, and couldnt tell much diff. between the two. I hardly ever used the vertical side of the moonraker and the 104 was mounted horiz. I eventually went to a m105 b4 I went full ham. It would depend on what kind of talking you do. If you are chasing mobiles or just talking local to other vertical ant....the moonraker. If you chase skip the 104 mounted flat. With the 104 you can extend the boom and rearange the elements for a little more gain for not much coin. my .02

Since you are working both 10 and 11 meters why not set the virt side of moonraker for 11 and the horz for 10 ?

that way you have both bands covered

just a thought

Dam good idea!

I know this will open up some controversy however, I am writing from personal experience. I've owned both the Moonraker IV and the Shooting Star beams. The Shooting Star is the better antenna for two reasons. If you have ever tried to obtain a perfect VSWR on the vertical side of a Moonaraker, this is no easy task. The vertical driven element on this antenna is highly effected by the location of the mast and the coax. The antenna places the vertical driven element too close to the mast bracket and coax. This causes them to radiate and produce reflected power that can change with the direction of the antenna.

The second reason I do not like the Moonraker is the mechanical construction. The aluminum hubs either turn from not being tight enough or crack from being too tight. The fragile little fingers on the tips of the elements aren't much better. They are the first parts to bend down or break off. After spending over a week 60 feet up the tower working on the Moonraker I gave it away for free and purchased the Shooting Star. In one afternoon I had it together and tuned perfectly. The muffler clamp style U-bolts used on the Shooting Star combined with improved element spacing make it the clear winner in my book.