5 band HF beam with boom =18'

[EI4HQ]

I'm currently designing the radio station for my new QTH (currently under construction).

What are peoples recommendations for a 5 band (10,12,15,17 & 20) beam which has a boom length no greater than 18'?

[Force 12 do the C3, C3E, C4, C4E, XR5. Hygain do a series of Log periodics (LP1009X) but I  don't have boom length info... Cushcraft don't appear to do one?]

Any experience would be appreciated.

Cormac, EI4HQ
Cork, Ireland

[WB2WIK]

The Tennadyne T-6 has a 12' boom, and the T-8 has an 18' boom, and cover 20/17/15/12/10m very well.  These are LPDAs which are American-made, in Texas.  Reasonably light weight, and high performance.  I own the Tennadyne LPDA and it works very well for its size, regularly "busting" large DX pileups with one or two calls -- or maybe it's my great operating, hi!

http://www.tennadyne.com

WB2WIK/6

[W6HB]

If you are also limited by the turning radius and or are in a high wind area, you might want to consider a Hex-beam. The 5-band version is only about 19 pounds with a turning radius of approximately 9.5 feet. The commercial site is www.hexbeam.com and there is a user's group that includes home-brew information at groups.yahoo.com/group/hex-beam.

[KL7JT]

Hi,

I've used a Mosley TA-53M with very good results for eight years. Boom is 14 feet long. Would have to take down three large trees at a cost of $1500 to use something with a longer boom. Operationally it's quite good; do pretty well in phone pileups with about 90W. It's well constructed; fair amount of icing at my QTH (Boston, Mass); no problem. A 50 lb tree limb fell on it during a winter storm and bent the reflector a bit, but it stayed up; it's quite durable. Gain is probably near what they quote as is F/B. Some complain about the F/B, but my sense is that this is a compromise necessitated by the short boom.

Mosley can be a bit brusque over the phone in my experience, but that doesn't affect the gear. See:

http://www.mosley-electronics.com/amateur.htm

I've heard good things re Tennadyne, but have never used.

73,

Steve
KL7JT/1

[K8AC]

See description of Fluidmotion beam.  I looked it over closely at Dayton and would buy one myself if I needed a beam.