Hi;
I took a quick look at both the dx77 and dx88 and they both sounded like 
they would be worth further investigations.  I didn't see any info as to 
whether high gain says they are self supporting or not.  Self supporting 
would be a good thing.
Rich
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Louis Kim Kline" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, October 22, 2006 11:30 AM
Subject: Re: Buffalo snow storm


Hi Rich.

You might want to investigate the HyGain DX88.  Lynn, N2IZX, uses one, and
thinks very highly of it.  I think it would meet all of the criteria that
you were looking at.

I don't think the GAP would have fared well in that storm either.  Its big
drawback is the capacity hat at the bottom which will bend under the weight
of ice.  My first one failed in the 2003 ice storm.  Other than that, the
GAP is a good antenna, but it is so tall that it should be guyed to
withstand high winds.  It also can develop problems if the rain cap at the
top fails, as the first time rain gets in, you'll blow the capacitor in the
top of the antenna, and then it becomes very difficult to load, even with a
tuner.  I have already experienced this failure once.

73, de Lou K2LKK



At 08:45 PM 10/21/2006 -0400, you wrote:
>Hi everyone;
>The snow is gone, the antenna is history, and there are still lots of trees
>down.  I was using a kushcraft r8 which was roof mounted.  It was 
>convenient
>in that it came with a counterpoise which supposedly avoided the need for
>long wire tuned radials.  It would appear that it just isn't sturdy enough
>for this area, however.
>I have looked at the gap but some of the reviews on e-ham were not exactly
>encouraging.  Butternut makes a good product but it can be hard to 
>initially
>tune and then we have to deal with a set of radials.  The step-ir was also
>very interesting but I was never certain if it was self supporting and then
>we go back to radials.
>Are there some exciting options out there I haven't looked at?  This is a
>reasonably sized city lot about 50 by 140 problem is there is one pole at
>the rear of my yard which services my home and both neighbors.  Needless to
>say there are lots of wires al ready up there.  I would much prefer a nice
>simple dipole and it certainly would be easier to put up.
>73
>Rich

Louis Kim Kline
A.R.S. K2LKK
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