Hi Mike!

I have been watching this discussion with interest.  Your description of the
hex beam is greatly appreciated, since until I read it I had zero idea what
the heck this thing looks like ; )  My question is how this antenna holds up
in the wind?

73,
Richard KK6MRH

-----Original Message-----
From: For blind ham radio operators [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Mike Barnard
Sent: Sunday, July 27, 2014 6:51 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Looking for Hex Beam Info

This is Mike, KD2CDU, I have a hex beam, and I will try to tell you a little
about it.  Also I was talking to Jounior, and he is interested also.
I have  the (g3txq ),  a ameture in the UK.  It covers
6-10-12-15-17-20 meters.  I helped put it together.  It is in a circle, and
has 6 equal sides.  The wire goes on 5 of the six sides so you have a
triangle with no  wires.  The center post has screw terminals for the bands,
6 meters on the bottom and 20 meters on the top.  The coax hooks on the
bottom of that post.  As the bands go up the wires  get wider and go up it
is like a six layered circle  in steps having a bigger circumference as the
bands get longer.  It is about 12 feet round.  There are six spokes and they
hook to the center point and are bent up and have a rope that holds them  in
place also at the center point.  I have been thinking of how else to
describe it's shape, maybe like a funnle with 1/6 gone.
Each wire has theclamps and all on each  place to put the antenna.  It is
like  having 6 lines from small to big around a funnle.
Now to how it works, It first is not that heavy, and each band I have had no
more than 1.5 swr.
Eventually it is going on a tower  about 60 feet up.  Now it is about
20 feet from the ground on two sections of the tower bolted to the deck.  I
have talked to Alaska on 10 Europe and the west coast. It is directional
better on the higher bands, because it is not where it should be.  It should
be about 30 feet up or more.
Where it is it is about an s unit better than my hf antenna, which is a dx
110 feet all band antenna about 60 feet up.  That antenna is fed with ladder
line, Dx enginering calls it Piano wire. I can't weight to get the antenna
up where it belongs.
I hopes this helps, and if you have any questions, you can call me or email
me, and I will try to answer them.

Mike
KD2CDU At 08:50 PM 7/25/2014, you wrote:
>I have been using a Carolina Windom wire antenna for 80 through 10 
>meters and would like to have something directional. Years ago, I ran a 
>3 element triband beam but I don't have much space here and need 
>something that could be mounted on a mast, not a tower. Also, some 
>visual stealth would be good too. So, I've been reading about hex 
>beams. Does anyone have any experience with a hex beam, either good or 
>bad? Any advice on one hex beam versus another?
>
>
>
>Thanks in advance for any comments.
>
>
>
>73, Jim, KY2D