Hi Vic. My 44' doublet is in my attic, arranged as a flat top for 24'
and then drooping straight down at both ends. The antenna is almost
exactly 30' above the earth. It is fed with 14' of 450 ohm ladder
line straight down through a slit in my ceiling and into a linen closet
where it meets up with an SG237 autocoupler. This keeps the autocoupler
out of the winter cold and summer heat of the attic. From there I have
a run of nice "clean" 50 ohm coax to my second story "shack" This attic
doublet arrangement is nearly 4 years old and has served me exceedingly
well on 40 through 10 meters, inclusive. I only run 5 watts CW at all
times simply because I love QRP and I love CW and it's my "thing." The
frequency agility of the doublet/autocoupler combination has been
wonderful because those of us in restrictive environments usually don't
have room for more than one, possibly two "good" antennas. I have a
very RF friendly attic in terms of no foil insulation, no HVAC, only
PVC plumbing stacks, etc. Of course, there is some attenuation but at
HF I believe (from what I've been able to research) that this
attenuation is frequently overstated and often considered to be far
worse than what it really is. In my experience, the "worst" penalties
that follow an attic (or any indoor) installation - RF exposure
notwithstanding - are skewed radiation pattern and "house noise."
i
By comparison, the Omni Angle when this video was made was at 27' - 3'
lower than the doublet's flat top section. That was 15' above the lower
deck + 12' up on the Jackite. The Omni Angle was "facing" E-W in the
sense that the "front" wire portion was pointing in that direction; the
attic doublet was pointing in the same E-W direction. Of course, we can
all agree, I'm sure, that this information doesn't help all that much in
comparing these two antennas because the drooped attic doublet had some
vertical component and most assuredly some skew in its pattern + as
another Lister pointed out, on 17M there are lobes on the doublet.
But here's what I think is important to know: For those of us (and
we're probably an increasing number in today's world) who can't enjoy
"antenna freedom" this Omni Angle represents another option and a darn
good one from my experience of the last 3 weeks. In my case, it fits
the footprint of my deck. I can put it up on my 31' jackite to about
the 25' + 15' for the upper deck gives me 40' of height, clear of my
roof line, and away from the attic "house noise."
My attic doublet is my overall favorite antenna and out of the weather
and is always ready for me. It's earned me DXCC at the QRP level, QRP
WAC, and I've worked all states too. It's gotten me to Japan from NY on
5 watts more than once. But this Omni Angle also got me to Tokyo on 5
watts just last week. So, based on my experience, the Omni Angle is a
competitive antenna for a restrictive home QTH, for portable work and,
in my case, for "stationary mobile" where I drive to a scenic rest stop,
drop a fiberglass pole into my hombrew mount on my VW Bug, hoist an
antenna that's significantly better than a Hamstick, and enjoy ham
radio.
Hope this helps to answer your questions, Vic, as well as those of other
Listers with antenna restrictions.
73, Stan WB2LQF
On Thu, Sep 26, 2013 at 12:33 PM, Vic K2VCO wrote:
> How high was the 44' doublet?
How was it oriented compared to the Omni Angle antenna?
Is the doublet in inverted V or horizontal configuration?
I am finding this interesting because I am soon moving to an
antenna-restricted location.
On 9/26/2013 6:57 AM, stan levandowski wrote:
About 3 weeks ago, I learned about a new "miracle antenna" - I
usually dismiss such
nonsense because there *is* no miracle antenna. However, the person
who informed me is a
trusted, capable, educated ham and DXpeditioner who is not easily
impressed.
I still don't believe in "miracles" but this 2.5 lb, 7 by 4 foot,
easy up/easy down, no
tools required, easy-to-tune $99 new product by Dale Parfitt
[designer of the PAR End
FedZ series] offers a realistic alternative to those with severe
antenna restrictions,
attic installations, SOTA needs, and so on. It is easily mounted on
a Jackite or similar
fiberglass pole. Just put it on and slide it down until it's a good
friction fit.
The antenna is resonant for a single band ( choose: 20, 17, 15, 12,
10 or 6) and
additional matchboxes can be purchased for around $25 each.
I bought the 17 meter version and in two weeks of non-scientific,
casual A/B testing
against my 44' doublet, the Omni Angle has been equal or better on
receive the majority of
times and about the same on transmit. On receive it seems notaby
less noisy than my
doublet. It is horizontally polarized.
I don't want to create an antenna controversy here on proper antenna
testing techniques --
I seem to have a flair for doing that -- ;)
But I do want to pass along info on this new product which might be
very useful to those
of us who have to live with antenna restrictions or who need options
for effective
portable operations.
Here is a short Youtube video I cobbled together to demonstrate my 17
meter PAR Omni Angle.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGTq4zVAW_w
73, Stan WB2LQF
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--
Vic, K2VCO
Fresno CA
http://www.qsl.net/k2vco/
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