Dear John: Well said.
Last year, a colleague (also a radio amateur) had his EE class design a UHF
(14-52) antenna using EZNEC, then construct the antenna, and then he took
the resulting antennas to an antenna range for testing (he had a grant to
cover the cost including cost of EZNEC).
The design of an antenna to cover not only 14-52, but also 7-13 is more of a
challenge. In this area, we have one station in the 7-13 range. I use a
Wineguard HD1080, which is a two bay with extensions on each fat dipole. A
second colleague with an antenna that was in bad shape after 30 years, just
replaced the old antenna with an Antenna Craft HBU33 with a huge jump in
signal and significant reduction in wind load.
Channel Master is good too. Much discussion exists - as has been observed -
about the 4228.

Obviously, it is improbable to have an eight bay antenna realize its
theoretical gain over the BW needed. I would stop with four.
73, Mac N8TT
--
J. McLaughlin; Michigan, USA
Home:
"John Ferrell" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 3 Oct 2010 08:26:19 -0400, "Cannuck" wrote:

I enjoy making my antennas also

But this 8bay hd antenna is pretty cheap. I see it for pick up at 69
dollars
in Toronto. Plus some taxes of course but looks like a pretty solid
antenna
for that price. I cannot imagine how much time one would spend getting all
the parts then assembling. I think just too easy to buy today.

Good luck with the build.
I am going to buy two tomorrow, throw them on the tower and be done with
it.

I am inclined to agree with you. I expect this to be my recomendation
for the folks around me who are looking for an antenna for HD.

However, there is this young fellow who is bent on building his own.
Given that he just might execute this project and then move on to more
antenna projects, I think I owe it to my early mentors to cultivate
his curiousity.

Perhaps acquiring this antenna and using it's performance as an
objective for diy models will fit well.

I am a Channel Master fan. I don't think you can beat their
price/perfomance in any of their products.
John Ferrell W8CCW