[Antennas] Best 'no radials' HF vertical?

2002年8月15日 21:05:43 -0700

Because verticals with 'no radials' are sometimes an emotional topic, I have
been hesitant to ask for feedback on them. However, due to a sudden
decrease in my already limited space for antennas, I am now seriously
contemplating the acquisition of a 'no radials' vertical antenna in order to
remain on the air until I can move to a new QTH with more space. Hopefully,
I can obtain a vertical that covers all bands, including WARC, from 40 thru
10 M and will take the full legal power limit.
>From what I can tell, there are three commercial possibilities: 1) the
Cushcraft R8, 2) the Hy-Gain AV-640, and 3) the Hy-Gain DX-77A. In order to
familiarize myself with what kind of performance I might expect, I obtained
the publication "HF Vertical Performance Test Methods and Results" by N0AX
and K7LXC published in 2000 and obtainable via
http://www.championradio.com/forsale/ . This report compared the Cushcraft
R8 'no radials' vertical to the Butternut HF6V, MFJ 1798, Force-12 ZR-3,
Diamond CP-6, Hustler 6BTV, Force-12 V-3, and Gap Titan. In addition, from
my own personal experience, I've used the Cushcraft R-4 (the very first
commercial 'no radials' HF vertical?) as a 'backup' antenna for nearly 15
years.
I had pretty much settled in on the R8 because, among other things, it uses
fewer traps than the Hy-Gain DX-77A. Also, its 'counterpoise' elements are
only 4 feet long thus I could install it in a space no wider that 9 feet by
9 feet. However, recently, I noticed that Hy-Gain now offers a new, 'no
radials' vertical' - the AV-640. This new AV-640 not only has 'no radials',
it also has 'no traps'! I downloaded the manual and found that it contains
a nice 'theory of operations' discussion and the design makes a lot of sense
to me. But, I'm no expert on this topic.
So, assuming you were limited to putting up a single 'no radials' vertical
and wanted to operate high power on 40 thru 10 M, which one of these three
verticals would you choose and why? Or, is there a better alternative
possible within my limited space that I have not considered?
73 de Jim [email protected]