Another Cubical Quad Question (aka White Lightning)

[Agapewood]

I know there has been discussion here in the past about the L6 quad, so here’s my situation.

About three years ago, I purchased a White Lightning antenna (much to the dismay of my wife). I did as much research as I could beforehand, but there isn’t much solid information available on these antennas. It was the largest quad I could safely install at my location.

I initially set it up in the backyard for testing. While I wasn’t completely surprised, it turned out to be nowhere near the center of the 11-meter band — resonance was way off, around 27.6 MHz. The gentleman who owned the company at the time was no help at all. Since I’m a machinist by trade, I ended up taking the antenna down, cutting and measuring the wire elements, and carefully storing everything away.

Fast forward to now: I’ve spent far too much time fully modeling the White Lightning antenna in 3D, and I’ve also created what I believe is a fairly accurate model in MMANA. I’ve adjusted all the element lengths to what the model indicates should be correct, but at this point I’d really like some more experienced eyes on the model to confirm whether I’ve got it right.

The matching network, in particular, has been a real challenge to sort out.

 

[Crawdad]

Ran sweeps with an antenna analyzer?

 

[Agapewood]

I should have also add that this antenna won’t be going back together until spring. It’s simply too cold right now here in Pennsylvania, and antenna/tower work in this weather is not happening — brrrr.


At this stage, I’m just getting everything ready and trying to make sure my calculations and modeling look correct. I really wish there were more solid information available on these antennas.


I do have a VNA, and that will definitely be part of the process once spring arrives. For now, I’d just appreciate having some experienced folks take a look at the MMANA model and let me know if anything looks off.