Finally got the new antenna, the VG4, up and running. Mostly, because the Imax has apparently opened up it's coil. Gotta break that down and see what happened The poor thing is nigh on 30 years old, so, I did get my money's worth out of it. Still like to know what happened, though.
Anyway, the new antenna is a Xingu VG4... ostensibly a four band trap antenna... designed to work on 40, 20,15, and 10m. Oddly enough, it works on 6 as well, as you'll see. The thing is ideal for small lot installations, RV/POTA work, Field days and so on. zI've got a very tiny back yard so this was ideal for me.
Here's the specs:
Use frequency band: 7/14/21/28MHz (40m/20m/15m/10m)
Axial length: about 7.8m | 25.6ft
Radial length: about 2.7m | 8.8ft
Maximum power handling: 1000W PEP (CW500W, RTTY300W)
Antenna impedance: 50Ω
VSWR：＜1.5:1
Antenna bandwidth: 40m: 150kHz / 20m: 450kHz / 15m: 800kHz / 10m: 1000kHz
Rated wind speed: 35 m/s
Antenna interface type: SL16-K
Weight: about 7.0kg | 15.4lb
Package size: 13x13x120cm | 0.4x0.4x3.9ft
Erection height: the distance from the ground is more than 3m (10ft)
Mine is mounted on 15ft worth of Aluminum masting.
With three folks working it took about 2 hours, click to clunk. Everything is well marked. Antenna looks very strong indeed, and gives me some confidence that it will put up with the winds around here.
Didn't get a chance to do a sweep from the shack until the next day, and here's the results.
SWR sweep, 40m:
Freq: 7.001 7.100 7.2 7.3
SWR 1.0 2.6 3.6 5.5
Obviously, the 40m element will need to be shortened. Just
as obviously, the Q on this band is quite a bit higher on the others. The spec shows 15KHz.... though I suspect it's usable outside that once you get it trimmed up.
