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I'm a b@$tard!


Yup, wires work. Thats what I'm on now, ninety odd feet of flexweave, a Lakeview 17m dipole and an 11m ground plane.
I lost three antennas last year to snow/ice+wind. Two were wire & one a hefty rigid dipole. The remote cabin is worse! My towers are the tallest things around for miles, so eagles try to perch on anything horizontal I put up.
I'm sick of using a tuner! I always have it set for the wrong band when I hear someone I wanna work & they are gone/occupied when I return from tuning. Rotors & I don't gee-haw.
Even though the Comet has some bad reviews I believe it would solve most of my problems.
Rambling I know, but my brain is frozen. Been out all morn moving my rigs from a garden shed to the house proper. So cold I can't heat a 6x8 shed adequately. The garage was better, but the furnace NEVER shut off. Just some of the perils we HAMS have to work around. hihi
Back out into the howling snow.
73 & Happy Yuletide
Lex
 
wy0mn/7 said:
but if you want one that works on CB & the majority of the HF ham bands, without a tuner...
Click to expand...

Depends on your definition of "works". A dummy load with a "stinger" attached would do just about as well. I think what's in these Vomit (sorry: Comet) antennas is a 4:1 balun, "terminated" with the vertical portion.

Just because it has "Low SWRs" doesn't make it a good antenna for transmitting, receiving or anything else.
 
Yes. I've read that review hundreds of times, and positive results by owner/users put them to shame.
Admittedly it isn't a yagi, loop, zepp, bazooka, curtain, rhombic nor any other uber expensive & labor intensive RF seine. Its a vertical and not an optimum vertical by any means; but it has its adherents, and applications, where few other antennas would suffice.
Peace
73
wy0mn
 
Yes'sir, but after last winters antenna losses... I'm going vertical, completely & totally. Less ice/wind buildup, less wind loading, smaller footprint. Its only a matter of time before my current antennas take a hit.
If I can't find a Comet that I think is at a fair price... and new ones aren't, then I'll probably go the DX-Engineering ground mounted verticals route & learn to love the tuner. Or erect a vert for each band! I have 40ac to play with.
Happy Yuletide
73
Lex
 
Beetle is exactly right. That thing is an aluminum dummy load. A base fed vertical without radials is an earthworm warmer and a lousy radiator.

You can easily build a better antenna without spending that kind of money. Radials simply cannot be eliminated for base fed verticals though. No way around this.

Again low SWR is not always an indicator of an antenna that radiates well.

Happy experimenting.
 
Another repeat, so I repeat... it has its place.
I like to read the reviews of folks who have owned/used them. They have validity to me, the rest are just QRN; although we are all entitled to an opinion.
I just might build a "dummy load antenna" for the heck of it. (As a matter of fact, I did bid my limit up to the component price of making one.) If something works, it works. If I must sacrifice in one area to alleviate some of my wx related mounting problems... Its a 'no brainer' to me. I can't continue to replace multiple horizontal antennas & aerials yearly.

73/Happy Yule
Lex
 

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