The video below is a customer’s presentation of gain vs height, relative to the Yagi or Dipole HexTenna at 5 1/2 feet and 20 feet.
TWO REASONS WHY ALPHA ANTENNA DECIDED TO USE A 5 1/2 FOOT TRIPOD:
- Trading the weight of a 20-foot tripod for just 1/2 an S-Unit just didn’t seem practical for people who expect an antenna system to be truly portable. An antenna must be at 1/2 a wavelength high to see a noticeable increase in gain, which would be 34 feet on 20 meters and 17 feet for 10 meters. Tripods and masts built for these heights made deployments, weight, and size impractical for portable use. Especially considering the gain would not be much more than the antenna at 5 1/2 feet.
- Lower antenna systems enhance NVIS communications. Fortunately, increased DX capabilities are built-into the HexTenna that utilizes a combination of properly angled dipole elements plus ground gain. So, while not all portable deployments focus on EmComm, Alpha Antenna values systems that support regional emergency communications and still have a DX capability when deployed at 5 1/2 feet.
Spoiler Alert: The results show a difference of 1/2 an S-Unit when mounting the HexTenna at 5 1/2 feet vs 20 feet.