Now, THAT is an antenna!

[W3WN]

Would you believe... four stacked STEPP-IR antennas?

http://atnm.mcars.us/K9LTN.pdf (11 MB PDF file).

Whoa! I don't even want to THINK about the shekels sunk into this project...

[K7SGJ]

Holy shit. Musta cost a fortune. He could run QRPp and still out-perform my 100W/dipole station. Can you imagine 25-30 watts PSK31? Probably makes the waterfall run uphill.

[NQ6U]

Holy shit. Musta cost a fortune.

~$30K for the antennas alone. You could duplicate my entire station fifteen times over for that kinda dough, and that's not even counting the towers, excavation, concrete work, crane rental and all the other miscellaneous extras.

Not that I wouldn't do the same sort of thing if I could afford it, mind you.

[KJ3N]

~$30K for the antennas alone. You could duplicate my entire station fifteen times over for that kinda dough, and that's not even counting the towers, excavation, concrete work, crane rental and all the other miscellaneous extras.

Not that I wouldn't do the same sort of thing if I could afford it, mind you.

I'm not sure I would do it, even if I had the money. It just seems a bit excessive (and obsessive) to me.

[W5GA]

I think I remember reading somewhere that this didn't play very well for some reason or other, but I don't remember the specifics. I think it's in the annals of history, now.

A mere shadow to the full size 3 element 160m beam up 300' at OH8X.

[KC2UGV]

I'm not sure I would do it, even if I had the money. It just seems a bit excessive (and obsessive) to me.

I'd do a wire phased array along the lines the Sterba array (But smaller). Costs would most likely be about the same, but steering would requiring no physical components.

[NQ6U]

I'm not sure I would do it, even if I had the money. It just seems a bit excessive (and obsessive) to me.

You do have a point. To be perfectly honest, I'd be happy with a single StepIR on an 80' tower.

[XE1/N5AL]

I'm not sure I would do it, even if I had the money. It just seems a bit excessive (and obsessive) to me.
The neighborhood homeowner's association would probably agree.

[W3WN]

I think I remember reading somewhere that this didn't play very well for some reason or other, but I don't remember the specifics. I think it's in the annals of history, now.

A mere shadow to the full size 3 element 160m beam up 300' at OH8X.Somehow, that doesn't surprise me. It would be one thing if the four beams were all single band yagis in phase... but four multi-band antennas? I can't even begin to imagine the phasing nightmare that could be involved.

Not to knock the person who put this together, but frankly (and how is Frank doing these days?) if I had the shekels to do this and the land area to do it on, I'd go with single band Yagis (at most 2 in phase) for 40 - 10, rather than put up with the engineering headaches of this. I think the trade-off in perceived gain vs. system complexity isn't worth it. But without knowing the full story of why this was done (maybe there was a good reason why only 1 more tower could go up?), it's very difficult to judge if this was a wise decision or not.

[W3WN]

The neighborhood homeowner's association would probably agree.When I first moved to Pittsburgh, there was a local ham (KJ3Q, now a SK), a pretty big DX'er at the time, who had a run-in with his neighbors regarding his towers. Now Don had a pretty decent sized lot with three towers already on it, and he wanted to add a fourth.

At the time (early 1980's) there was no zoning regulations on the books to prevent this. So they really couldn't stop him, just make his life a little complicated. So he struck a deal with them: Let him put up the fourth tower, and he wouldn't put up any more.

What they didn't know... he had no plans to put up any more towers anyway.

...Don was a hard-core DX'er. He once tested quite a few headphones until he could find a pair he could sleep in... yes, he had an HF rig next to his bed, so that if any rare DX came up, he wouldn't waste any time trying to work them...

[KJ3N]

The neighborhood homeowner's association would probably agree.

No such thing where I live. That's the housing development behind me. :lol:

[KG4CGC]

Tom, WV6Z helped with the erection of that antenna.

[VE7DCW]

Would you believe... four stacked STEPP-IR antennas?http://atnm.mcars.us/K9LTN.pdf (11 MB PDF file).Whoa! I don't even want to THINK about the shekels sunk into this project...Obviously they're preparing for the bottom of the current sunspot cycle:mrgreen: ........ it must be nice to have the cash

[kb2vxa]

"It would be one thing if the four beams were all single band yagis in phase... but four multi-band antennas? I can't even begin to imagine the phasing nightmare that could be involved."

When you're bragging of the steel and aluminium tree monster you don't mention your worst nightmare. Very impressive but I'm used to that, I remember GI0AIJ Ivor's tree farm, 6 over 6 X4 for 40, 20, 15 and 10 on separate towers. I remember listening to him and Sherman W2FLA then in Boonton, NJ QSOing on 20 during a sunspot minimum and with only 100W transmitter power wrapped the needle around the pin.

Now I wonder where Al W2NCH got off to. He had a 22el H stack on an 80' tower, I used to talk with him 130mi into Pennsylvania from my 2M FM mobile. Last I heard a local ham was working out the blind man's bugs in the kilowatt amp he was building for him, but from that height at least he won't set the trees on fire.

[ki4itv]

...the full size 3 element 160m beam up 300' at OH8X.

Take it to the system!

[NQ6U]

Somehow, that doesn't surprise me. It would be one thing if the four beams were all single band yagis in phase... but four multi-band antennas? I can't even begin to imagine the phasing nightmare that could be involved.

The job was made somewhat easier by the fact that he used SteppIR yagis. The way they work makes them act like single-banders, only tunable across 14-28 MHz. You'd still have some phasing and spacing issues, though.

[Jeff K1NSS]

Seems to me in cases like this, the ham is most likely far more interesting than the antenna. A variant of guys who build Watts towers, Cadillac graveyards, big stuff beyond the ken. Not sure, but isn't the OH8X beam the product of a corsortium? It's all very strange, fascinating stuff.

[W5GA]

Not sure, but isn't the OH8X beam the product of a corsortium? It's all very strange, fascinating stuff.
Yes, it is. See http://www.radioarcala.com/nbspAboutRadioArcala/tabid/188/Default.aspx
Incidentally, in this photo of the monster, the top antenna is a full size, 5 element 80m...a monster in its own right, but dwarfed by the 3 el. 160.
5157

[K7SGJ]

If I had the $$ to built something like that, I'd use it to build a long wire antenna. A very, very longwire. Like around the earth once, or to the moon, Alice.

ETA That just gave me a random thought. Hmmmmmmmm

[kf0rt]

If I had the $$ to built something like that, I'd use it to build a long wire antenna. A very, very longwire. Like around the earth once, or to the moon, Alice.

ETA That just gave me a random thought. Hmmmmmmmm

If I had the money to build something like that, you'd never see my fat white ass again. :lol:

[W1GUH]

If I had the $$ to built something like that, I'd use it to build a long wire antenna. A very, very longwire. Like around the earth once, or to the moon, Alice.

ETA That just gave me a random thought. Hmmmmmmmm

I'd get the land where I could put up two rhombics at right angles to each other with "a few" 160m wavelengths on each end.



BTW..."All the young girls love Alice."

[W5GA]

I'd get the land where I could put up two rhombics at right angles to each other with "a few" 160m wavelengths on each end.
That would be similar to what W6AM used to have up, but he had more than 2.

[W1GUH]

That would be similar to what W6AM used to have up, but he had more than 2.

Was that the guy in Palos Verdes? Was in a QSO with a guy from that area and he was telling just how strong 'AM was all the time.

[W3WN]

Was that the guy in Palos Verdes? Was in a QSO with a guy from that area and he was telling just how strong 'AM was all the time.I think so.

He purchased a huge tract of land from (IIRC) Press Wireless, back when they consolidated two sites into one. Was supposed to be one of the best sites for RF in the country, if not the world. Don had a good many rhomibics up in different directions. I've heard stories told about the complicated & very manual switching that was done when he wanted to change bands or directions.

I know after his passing, the property was sold to developers. I THINK that his home was preserved as a museum of sorts, but all the rhombics are gone. (And wouldn't it be ironic if there are CCR's or an HOA prohibiting or severely limiting Amaeur activity, or at least antennas, on that property today?)

There are a lot of good stories about W6AM. The one that sticks in my mind... he had a full Collins KW mobile AM station in his car at one time. When his wife was going shopping, he would pull up in front of the department store to pick her up. Allegedly, if she was delayed, he'd key up the rig, overload the store's PA system, and page her to come to the front of the store -- and no one in the store could figure out how this was being done!

[W5GA]

Was that the guy in Palos Verdes? Was in a QSO with a guy from that area and he was telling just how strong 'AM was all the time.
Yup, that was him. My oldest brother did CQWW there once, before Don passed. He was running JA's for about 2 1/2 hours after the band had gone away for anybody else on the West Coast.

[N7YA]

A mere shadow to the full size 3 element 160m beam up 300' at OH8X.

I am looking that card...i break it out from time to time to marvel at the picture. Wow! A beam made out of towers.

[N7YA]

If I had the $$ to built something like that, I'd use it to build a long wire antenna. A very, very longwire. Like around the earth once, or to the moon, Alice.

ETA That just gave me a random thought. Hmmmmmmmm

I remember years ago, a guy in OX-land built a LW that was 7500' long. It just stretched out into the vast ice field and disappeared. I wish i had the room to do that!

[KD0ANL]

I have a friend with a million-dollar boat, so why not?

[N8YX]

I have a friend with a million-dollar boat, so why not?

You mean a million-dollar hole in the water, right?

[KG4CGC]

You mean a million-dollar hole in the water, right?

Got 10 large I can borrow? I need to fill up the tank.