System Upgrade: Mic and Antenna Changes

[Robb]

Any radio station will be better off if it uses the rules of thumb to make it "be all that it can be." Sorry USA, I just had to borrow that for the moment. Just got my General license two weeks ago, so now I am on my way to put this station on the air.

I bought an Icom IC-718 less than a month ago - to be precise - New Years Eve from HRO for $559+tx-$50 rebate. Just got the $50 rebate for it, so I considered what could I do to make this station better than it was.

I had some bad news about putting up my Windom 10-40 dipole; the tree that was going to be at one end of this project has to be cut down. Some pine trees only live 50 years, and this one is about to be cut down. Anybody want to buy a brand new Radiowavz 10-40 meter Windom dipole for $50 postpaid? Let me know.

I am fighting the urge to get Hustler 6BTV, as I really am not thrilled about losing so many db to the inefficiency of most vertical periodic antennas. So I am considering a 3 element Yagi that can do 10-15-20 meters. I'd seen one -somewhere- for $325; can't seem to find it now. But with +7/+8db of gain for the Yagi, it sure beats any -5/-10db loss-prone vertical and ensures a strong DX potential.

I have a MFJ-993B Autotuner for the station as well. Need some Belden 9913 Flex also. Have the ground rod, but still need ground cable and a copper buss for the shack. The Yagi I was looking at (hope I can find that page again) will need a rotor; but it is so light that I can get away with a TV rotor.

What did I do with the $50? I just scored a Turner+3 from eBay for $70/ship incl - to make the modulation on SSB/AM all that it can be.
Now I must find that Yagi.
I hope I have done my homework correctly so far.
:headbang

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

Just a word of caution here but any three element tribander is going to be load and a half for a TV type rotator.The typical trapped tribander like a Cushcraft A3S or a Mosley TA-33 is going to have elements that are around 26 feet long with heavy traps and has a boom 14 feet long. This is a very substantial load for a TV rotator.I used a medium duty CDE rotator (now HyGain) for my A3 but also had a 6m beam on the same mast and I broke a ring gear in a windstorm and my rotator would eat TV rotators for breakfast. It's not just what the weight will do in static air but what the weight WILL do when the wind whips up.Just be wary.I've seen the cases break open on overloaded TV rotators.

 

[Moleculo]

Do you already have the TV rotator? You could buy/build a hex beam instead of a yagi. Those are light enough to use a rotator like that with.

 

[Robb]

Well, as far as the Yagi brand that I was most interested in, is the Spiderbeam 10-12-15-17-20 meter fiberglass. Unlike the wire dipoles and vertical antennas, it has real gain - between 10.5 to 12.6dbi! It comes as a kit, German made, great company support(from what I've read from different sources), and only weighs in at 16 lbs!. It comes as a complete kit, and includes a balun snd the dacron guy rope. Everything, except for the mast.

I got pretty fed up pouring over the specs on fussy, loss-ridden, expensive verticals that promise the entire bandwidth but delivering it at up to minus 11db. Oh boy, that means I get to pay a generous $500 or more for the antenna - plus all of the cost for the ground plate and tilt plate - or I can opt for more band coverage by adding yet more loss-riddled coils and traps. That may serve to give me another band; but take away yet more db's that I cannot afford to lose already. No, when you add up the weight factor of the Spiderbeam, and it's a complete kit, and GREAT db GAIN - I really cannot see any other better choice for the money.

The only vertical that came in best was the Gap Titan DX - a vertical dipole that has it's own counterpoise and can use height to an advantage. Still coming in with minus 10db - to unity gain - at best. And horizontal dipoles? I don't have the trees or am willing to spend 3-$400 on just putting a 3/45 ft masts up - and maybe getting only a couple of db gain. Messy and inconvinient as well. The Spiderbeam wins hands down - when one considers the positives and negatives - clearly!

In fact, I'm not going to even run with a rotor for awhile (because I'm CHEAP!!!). I'm going to set it in an eastward fashion - as I live on the central coast of California. The side-to-side db rejection isn't that great; so I can talk to locals at a minor disadvantage, still be able to work five bands to the edge, and, get out like gangbusters thru the entire US and Europe. When I find and get a cheap rotor, by that time I will be ready tho change its propagation angle and shoot it at Africa, South America, or the Far East.

Is that a plan - all Elmer's?
What do you think?
Thanks, guys!

 

[WX2MIG]

We think alike Rob.....

Do what you can for now, then fix or upgrade it later as money allows.....

 

[Moleculo]

That "spiderbeam" is just a brand name for a hex beam. I have not used one personally, but I have talked to stations on the air that are using them. They get high praise from those who use them. You can use a TV rotator with that. It would be a fun project to build also. Look around on the internet for plans...you can definately save some money and they're fairly easy to build!

 

[Robb]

Spiderbeam© High Performance Lightweight Antennas - 5-band yagi permanent reinforced Spiderbeam 20-17-15-12-10m HD A00054
Or, the lightweigt - which is cheaper yet:
http://www.spiderbeam.com/product_info.php?info=p5_Spiderbeam 20-17-15-12-10m.html

Imagine a 5 element Yagi built with both 2 element and 3 element functions for full bandwidth. This is the site for the Spiderbeam, check it out and tell me what y'all think...

BTW- Moleculo - what kind of report did you give the guy that was using the Spiderbeam? Where was his QTH and yours? What was your overall impression?
Thanks!
BBTTWW-How do y'all feel about the Turner+3 mic? Kinda like to hear some input and advice for this puppy. I understand that I can hook up +8v thru the mic plug - so that the battery can be eliminated. True? Anybody ever do that for the Icom IC-718?

 

[Moleculo]

Here's a site that shows you how to homebrew it. I think the guy I talked to was the one mentioned on this site on 17m. It was a while back so I don't remember the details, but I was impressed. As the page says, it's about the equivalent of a 2 element Yagi.

http://www.iol.ie/~bravo/ahexbeam.htm

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

The hexbeams are half decent and yes you can use a lightweight rotator to turn them. When you were talking about a tribander I thought more along the lines of a A3S or TA-33. BTW don't underestimate what a vertical will do. You MUST have a half decent radial field under them in order to work decent regardless what the manufacturer says and yes they are a bit narrow on the lower bands but when properly installed you will NOT have the -10 or 12 dB that you think.Here is a good article showing just how important radials are to a verticle.

http://www.eham.net/articles/20850

 

[Robb]

Thanks guys for that info!
I had previously read the eHam review on the $48 ground plane fix for the Hustler 6BTV.
The homebrew hexbeam is an interesting project, and I will look into it further.

After I found out that the Spiderbeam is more than $500~, it really put me off. Fibreglass, wire, balun, and a metal mount plate for that much money is absurd to say the least. $300 yes; $500 no.

I think I will hunt around for a used Cushcraft A3S or preferrably a Mosley TA-33WARC. Good advice - thanks. I'll have to look around I guess, and if that all fails, I might just build a hexbeam. I really want to keep it at or around $300-$350; because I still have to buy coax and few other small items to finish. I feel grateful that I have a decent radio (IC-718) and a decent mic (Turner+3); so what I need is a Yagi or beam to give the system the proper engineering considerations by being certain that there is db gain in the system and not db loss.

 

[n8fgb]

You should forget all the fancy antennas for now and just get on the air. Sell the autotuner and get a 300 watt roller inducter tuner with a 4:1 balun. Order some 300 or 450 ohm twin lead. Go got to HOme Depot and buy a 500 foot spool of stranded 18 gauge bare copper for abt 30 bucks,and star building. You can put up a 40 meter wire dipole as a inverted V of the mast you want to put you beam on. It dose not have to be a perfect V. With that tuner you can get 40- 10 meter, maybe even 6.
Rich

 

[Moleculo]

I agree...get on the air with a wire simply first, then plan out whatever other antenna projects you want to do later. Getting on the air is the most important thing. I think you'll be surprised at what you can do with a cheap, simple wire antenna. Since he already has the autotuner, I don't think I'd recommend selling it, although it would be a VERY good idea to learn how to use a manual tuner first. If nothing else, use the autotuner, by an inexpensive balun, some ladder line, and some wire and get it going.

 

[Robb]

I've got an MFJ-993B IntelliTuner.
It's got a built-in 4:1 balun and a separate wire output.

But the reason I bought it was because of the many features it has. Peak range wattage readout, cross-needle SWR/digital SWR, freq counter, and a lot more. It can handle 300w; so it can handle a power increase. The problem that I have is that I cannot put up a wire, so I need to put up the best vertical that I can.

It looks like I'm going to get the Cushcraft R600, just like you have Moleculo.
Still not sure yet, and I have been going over spec after spec for the last three weeks - constantly.

 

[Cat Driver]

Rob, here is what I will probably end up with 3 dbi gain an only $300

http://www.hy-gain.com/man/pdf/AV-620.pdf


Ron )

 

[packrat]

Why cant you put up a wire? It is the least intrusive of all antennas, and can be hidden quite well. Cant or wont? Wire up your gutters if you have to,LOL. Run the wire antenna down both sides of youe house, put it under the shingles on the roof if you want hidden.