I have made many long distance contacts using just my original penetrator and using more power. The beauty of the beam is you can use less power as the shooting star amplifies your power 28 times, supposedly.
As far as the horizontal part....When you don't hear anything on the vertical and switch to the horizontal its a whole new ball game. A lot of people use horizontal that you may not hear when on vertical.
In the summer I crank up the tower and its 50' up at the boom. In the winter when its cranked down its 30' up.
For a rotor I am using a modified Ham 3 with extra bearings for strength, but it has a disc brake. The Ham 3 actually allows the antenna to turn with high wind which sucks.
I suggest the Ham 4 rotor. Nothing less because it has a notch brake which a hurricane wind will not make the antenna turn.
AND you have to have good cable.
The vertical part works best at a minimum of 40' off the ground. The higher the better.
I got mine at R and L for a lot cheaper than anywhere else.