I got my K4KIO Hex Beam up on the roof yesterday. I think it looks pretty good! It is in the same spot that I had my beloved Moxon. Curse you Nor'Easter!
Putting this thing in the air made me appreciate the relative simplicity of the Moxon. It had just four poles, not six. It weighed just nine pounds, not 25. It was significantly smaller. On the other hand, that antenna just gave me one band -- I have 20, 17 and 12 on this one, and I could add three more. Also, this one is a lot more rugged, and is likely to survive the next Nor'Easter.
It was fun spinning it around. First QSO was DX on 20 SSB: EA1HDZ. This morning I spoke to KP3CQ in Puerto Rico. Later, I was listening to ZS3Y -- he was faint until I tried him on long-path. He was transmitting on the long path and was much stronger when I pointed in that direction.
I kept the 75 meter doublet -- I just put it on another tripod. So I will be able to continue to use that antenna for 40 meter AM contacts (I've been having a lot of those lately).
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Dear Bill: You are doing a fantastic job with Soldersmoke, and I really and sincerely appreciate all your efforts.
ReplyDeleteCertainly I will forgive you (eventually) for temporarily behaving like a credit card ham!
Thank you Walter. I do hope that you can eventually forgive me. I promise not to drone on about how "happy" I am with my "purchase" (some guys actually brag about this!). I did, however, copy the base plate pattern... I have a suitable piece of plywood... and some U bolts... So there is hope. 73 Bill
DeleteBravo Bill! I am envious as my Mosely beam is broken and only lasted less than a year. So now you have me thinking Hex beam!
ReplyDeletePete
Pete: It has me remembering how much fun it is to swing the antenna toward other directions. It adds a whole new dimension to radio operations. Fun. 73 Bill
DeleteI am sure Elisa loves this contemporary addition ;-)_
ReplyDeleteShe is so understanding about this kind of thing. Her only concern was that I might fall off the roof. So I asked the guy who cleans the gutters to do the actual installation. 73 Bill
DeleteAnother thing of beauty.
ReplyDeleteBill,
ReplyDeleteThe Hexbeam looks great! And you will be very happy with it. We had three setup for field day and the team was really pleased with the performance. Buddipole now has a portable version - the Buddihex that can be popped up very easily.
As far as the credit-card angle - "sometimes a ham's gotta do what a ham's gotta do!"
73,
Dean
KK4DAS