Hi Steve.
I think you'll be happy with the performance on the upper bands with that
antenna. It's achilles heel is that it is tricky to tune on 40 meters, but
is a good antenna otherwise. It is, however, quite involved to assemble,
and it is a big and heavy antenna, so you'll want to give some serious
thought to how you want to mount it. I used the tilt-over base that GAP
makes for the Titan, and mixed up four 80 pound bags of concrete to mount
the base in. The base, itself, is very ruggedly constructed.
The other difficulty that I had was that I had a capacitor that plugs into
the top of the antenna fail, making it impossible to load on 80
meters. When I called GAP Technical Support, I was told that it was a
common failure that is usually caused by rain penetrating the weather boot
on the top of the antenna. When I pulled the antenna down, I found out
that sure enough the weather boot had broken down leaving the capacitor
exposed. A 35 mm film can was just the right size to fit over the end of
the antenna, and once secured and sealed up, I've had no further trouble
with it.
73, de Lou K2LKK
At 11:18 AM 3/18/2007 -0400, you wrote:
>Lou,
>
>I've been thinking about a Gap for a while now, but want to know how well it
>works before I rush out and buy one. I'm particularly interested in its
>performance on 20 meters and above. At present, I'm using a Cobra Ultralite
>Senior, which is an all-band folded dipole.
>
>Steve
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Lou Kline" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Saturday, March 17, 2007 17:43
>Subject: Re: Cushcraft R8 Revisited
>
>
> > Hi.
> >
> > That depends upon the vertical antenna. The ones that are supposed to act
> > as an electrical quarterwave do require a ground or radials, but a few are
> > designed to function electrically as a vertical dipole, and these do not
> > require a radial system. For example, I run the GAP Titan, which uses
> > this
> > design and does not need radials.
> >
> > The Cushcraft R5, R7, and R8 antennas also fall into this category and do
> > not require radials.
> >
> > 73, de Lou K2LKK
> >
> > At 01:18 PM 3/17/2007 -0400, you wrote:
> >>Hi John;
> >>
> >>I don't know much about vertical antennas however, the ground radials are
> >>the other half of the antenna.
> >>
> >>Without ground radials, a vertical antenna is not real effective.
> >>
> >>73 De Anthony W2AJV
> >>[log in to unmask]
> >>ECHOLINK NODE NUMBER: 74389
> >>
> >>----- Original Message -----
> >>From: "John Vernaleken" <[log in to unmask]>
> >>To: <[log in to unmask]>
> >>Sent: Saturday, March 17, 2007 1:04 PM
> >>Subject: [BLIND-HAMS] Cushcraft R8 Revisited
> >>
> >>
> >>Since I do not have room for something like a G5RV or Carolina Windom I a
> >>m
> >>thinking about a Cushcraft R8. I would prefer not to have ground radials
> >>,
> >>that is why I am looking at the R8.
> >>Any feedback would be helpfull.
> >>
> >>Thanks
> >>John KC2QJB
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>--
> >>No virus found in this incoming message.
> >>Checked by AVG Free Edition.
> >>Version: 7.5.446 / Virus Database: 268.18.13/725 - Release Date: 3/17/2007
> >>12:33 PM
> >
> > Louis Kim Kline
> > A.R.S. K2LKK
> > Home e-mail: [log in to unmask]
> > Work e-mail: [log in to unmask]
> > Work Telephone: (585) 697-5753
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
>--
>No virus found in this incoming message.
>Checked by AVG Free Edition.
>Version: 7.5.446 / Virus Database: 268.18.13/726 - Release Date: 3/18/2007
>3:34 PM
Louis Kim Kline
A.R.S. K2LKK
Home e-mail: [log in to unmask]
Work e-mail: [log in to unmask]
Work Telephone: (585) 697-5753
|
