Hexbeam Antenna Modeling
 

Hello, everyone. I'm enquiring as to whether anyone has done NEC2/NEC4
modeling on the subject antenna (including a tower mounting) and operating
on the ham bands. Do you have tabulated driving point (antenna feedpoint)
and gain data that you might share? Thanks for your time and comment.
Sincerely, and 73s from N4GGO,

John Wood (Code 5550) e-mail:
Naval Research Laboratory
4555 Overlook Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20375-5337

Hexbeam Antenna Modeling
 

J. B. Wood wrote:
Hello, everyone. I'm enquiring as to whether anyone has done NEC2/NEC4
modeling on the subject antenna (including a tower mounting) and operating
on the ham bands. Do you have tabulated driving point (antenna feedpoint)
and gain data that you might share? Thanks for your time and comment.
Sincerely, and 73s from N4GGO,

John Wood (Code 5550) e-mail:
Naval Research Laboratory
4555 Overlook Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20375-5337

I suggest you contact the manufacturer (http://www.hexbeam.com), if you
haven't already. They might have some information they'd share.

Roy Lewallen, W7EL

Hexbeam Antenna Modeling
 

In article ,
wrote:

J. B. Wood wrote:
Hello, everyone. I'm enquiring as to whether anyone has done NEC2/NEC4
modeling on the subject antenna (including a tower mounting) and operating
on the ham bands. Do you have tabulated driving point (antenna feedpoint)
and gain data that you might share? Thanks for your time and comment.
Sincerely, and 73s from N4GGO,

John Wood (Code 5550) e-mail:

Naval Research Laboratory
4555 Overlook Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20375-5337

I suggest you contact the manufacturer (http://www.hexbeam.com), if you
haven't already. They might have some information they'd share.

Roy Lewallen, W7EL

Thanks for responding, Roy. Some hams are apparently assembling the
antenna from their own materials rather than buying the antenna outright.
Of all the folks that I can think of that might have done a MoM analysis
of this antenna, you come to my mind first. 73s,

John Wood (Code 5550) e-mail:
Naval Research Laboratory
4555 Overlook Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20375-5337

Hexbeam Antenna Modeling
 

John,

Take a look at my web site if you haven't already found it. There are
2 pages devoted to modelling the hexbeam and there's an EZNEC file for
a five-band version you can download:

http://www.karinya.net/g3txq/hexbeam/eznec1/
http://www.karinya.net/g3txq/hexbeam/eznec2/

73,
Steve G3TXQ

Hexbeam Antenna Modeling
 

wrote:
John,

Take a look at my web site if you haven't already found it. There are
2 pages devoted to modelling the hexbeam and there's an EZNEC file for
a five-band version you can download:

http://www.karinya.net/g3txq/hexbeam/eznec1/
http://www.karinya.net/g3txq/hexbeam/eznec2/

73,
Steve G3TXQ


Nicely done, Steve. Thanks.

tom
K0TAR

Hexbeam Antenna Modeling
 

J. B. Wood wrote:
Hello, everyone. I'm enquiring as to whether anyone has done NEC2/NEC4
modeling on the subject antenna (including a tower mounting) and operating
on the ham bands.

Interesting designs, I hadn't seen them before.
For a hand-held DF sniffer on 2m, might there be
compactness advantages? What would the approximate
dimensions of be of a hexbeam on 2 metres?

Clifford Heath, VK3CLF

Hexbeam Antenna Modeling
 

Clifford,

Turn radius is about 12.5" for a 2m broadband hex.

It should be possible to get very deep and narrow F/B nulls by
adjusting the Driver/Reflector end spacing at some cost to the VSWR.

Steve G3TXQ

Hexbeam Antenna Modeling
 

wrote:
John,

Take a look at my web site if you haven't already found it. There are
2 pages devoted to modelling the hexbeam and there's an EZNEC file for
a five-band version you can download:

http://www.karinya.net/g3txq/hexbeam/eznec1/
http://www.karinya.net/g3txq/hexbeam/eznec2/

73,
Steve G3TXQ

Now, that's what I'm talkin' about! Great job, Steve. 73's,

Hexbeam Antenna Modeling
 

Hexbeam Antenna Modeling
 

Clifford,

There are two styles of hexbeam: the older design which has a W-shape
Driver and a W-shape Reflector, and which I call the "classic" on my
web site; and my newer broadband design which has a W-shape Driver and
a U-shape Reflector.

I found in my lab notebook a 2m version of the broadband style; its
dimensions a half-Driver 21"; Reflector 40"; end gap 2.5". I think
I assumed wire construction using #14 bare copper. That would give a
hexagon radius of 12.5".

When I model this with EZNEC I see about 3.8dBd Forward Gain and 19dB
F/B with VSWR=1.4. The problem is that the rearward response is very
smooth and "well behaved" so probably not much use for DF.

If I increase the end gap to 5" the Forward Gain and F/B remain about
the same, but the azimuth pattern devlops deep side nulls (38dB) at
plus and minus 130 degrees which may be useful. The VSWR deteriorates
to 1.8:1.

Hopefully that may give you a starting point for experimentation. If I
get a chance I'll try some modelling experiments on the classic design
also.

73,
Steve G3TXQ

Hexbeam Antenna Modeling
 

Hexbeam Antenna Modeling
 

wrote:
Clifford,

There are two styles of hexbeam: the older design which has a W-shape
Driver and a W-shape Reflector, and which I call the "classic" on my
web site; and my newer broadband design which has a W-shape Driver and
a U-shape Reflector.

I found in my lab notebook a 2m version of the broadband style; its
dimensions a half-Driver 21"; Reflector 40"; end gap 2.5". I think
I assumed wire construction using #14 bare copper. That would give a
hexagon radius of 12.5".

When I model this with EZNEC I see about 3.8dBd Forward Gain and 19dB
F/B with VSWR=1.4. The problem is that the rearward response is very
smooth and "well behaved" so probably not much use for DF.

If I increase the end gap to 5" the Forward Gain and F/B remain about
the same, but the azimuth pattern devlops deep side nulls (38dB) at
plus and minus 130 degrees which may be useful. The VSWR deteriorates
to 1.8:1.

Hopefully that may give you a starting point for experimentation. If I
get a chance I'll try some modelling experiments on the classic design
also.

73,
Steve G3TXQ

Hello, Steve, and all. Steve, I see you also have an informative
article that is posted online at
www.antennex.com/preview/Dec507/hexbeam.pdf 73s,

Hexbeam Antenna Modeling
 

On Jun 4, 1:09*pm, "J.B. Wood" wrote:

Hello, Steve, and all. *Steve, I see you also have an informative
article that is posted online atwww.antennex.com/preview/Dec507/hexbeam.pdf


Yes, that article described the process by which I arrived at the
broadband version.

Since then there have been a couple of write-ups in the monthly
Antenna column of RadioCommunication magazine, and RSGB published the
design in their recent book "Building successful HF antennas". You may
also have seen Leo's (K4KIO) constructional article in the March
edition of QST. All that has generated quite a lot of interest in the
antenna.

I try to avoid exagerated claims for the design - at the end of the
day it's a "compressed" Yagi and performs as such. But it does provide
useful directivity over the five bands 20m thru 10m, with a single
feedline, in a size which suits those of us that don't have a lot of
space. It's also pretty easy to construct from readily-available
materials, although a number of folk now supply complete kits,
including K4KIO and more recently DX Engineering.

73,
Steve G3TXQ

Hexbeam Antenna Modeling
 

Hexbeam Antenna Modeling
 

"J.B. Wood" wrote :
Thanks for the reply, Steve. As for exaggerated claims, I'd have to give
the award to the designers of (and explainers of the "theory" behind) the
Crossed-Field Antenna (CFA). (Of course the CFA has been the subject of
numerous antenneX articles but I'm not placing yours in that group!) 73s,

I guess that you haven't seen info provided by Art on his shoe-box
sized 160M thru whatever antenna that has +9 db gain, and a pencil-thin beam
of radiated particles. Art's technical expertise beats the crap out of the
CFA
guys, as HE (Art) improves on Maxwell's and Gauss' equations, too. And all
of this from a retired mechanical engineer, working in his backyard!

Mike W5CHR
Memphis

Hexbeam Antenna Modeling
 

J.B. Wood wrote:

Thanks for the reply, Steve. As for exaggerated claims, I'd have to
give the award to the designers of (and explainers of the "theory"
behind) the Crossed-Field Antenna (CFA). (Of course the CFA has been
the subject of numerous antenneX articles but I'm not placing yours in
that group!) 73s,

Here's my candidate for the award, embodied in a U.S. patent:
http://tinyurl.com/h546u

Roy Lewallen, W7EL

Hexbeam Antenna Modeling
 

Roy Lewallen wrote:
J.B. Wood wrote:

Thanks for the reply, Steve. As for exaggerated claims, I'd have to
give the award to the designers of (and explainers of the "theory"
behind) the Crossed-Field Antenna (CFA). (Of course the CFA has been
the subject of numerous antenneX articles but I'm not placing yours in
that group!) 73s,

Here's my candidate for the award, embodied in a U.S. patent:
http://tinyurl.com/h546u

Roy Lewallen, W7EL

This particular antenna has the useful property of enhancing plant
growth too..

"
It has been observed by the inventor and witnesses that accelerated
plant growth can occur using the present invention.
"

I think David Strom knew what we was writing about. He deserves a beer.

Hexbeam Antenna Modeling
 

Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Thu, 04 Jun 2009 19:30:29 -0700, Roy Lewallen
wrote:

Here's my candidate for the award, embodied in a U.S. patent:
http://tinyurl.com/h546u
Roy Lewallen, W7EL

The link first returned:
crt0: ERROR couldn't open /usr/lib/dld.sl errno:000000023
Error #1010
Error: Filter Process terminated abnormally. Document may be
truncated.

A few minutes later, it was:
Error #1006
Error!
BRS was unable to process your request. A diagnostic message was
mailed to the appropriate personnel.

I hate days like this.... Eventually the patent appeared, but no
illustrations on that page. Instead, see:
http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=csYDAAAAEBAJ&dq=6,025,810
for the schematics, illustrations and a parts list. Hmmm.... only
works above 1000F temperature. Googling a bit deeper, I find that the
patent holder, David L. Strom, is currently a real estate agent in
Colorado.
http://www.homethinking.com/180340-David-L-Strom-Coldwell-Banker-Strom--Associates-Inc.html

patent # 6025810 if you use the http://www.uspto.gov/ site..

Some day, we'll all be talking about the famous '810 Strom patent, just
like folks in the semiconductor industry talk about the '275 Kilby patent




Here's my favorite:
http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=N_sEAAAAEBAJ&dq=5,982,276
Not exactly an antenna. It uses a MASER to (somehow) magnetically
couple Gigabit data to the power lines. The company is still around:
http://www.mediafusionllc.net




And reforming:
"The Media Fusion Team is now re-forming. Mr. William "Luke" Stewart
will act a temporary President and Chief Executive as well as Chief
Scientist. As other key resources are identified and recruited they
will become part of the Media Fusion, LLC Team. A recruiting committee
has been formed and recommendations are now being considered."

perhaps because of
15 dec 2006.. Preliminary settlement agreement signed by the honorable
Judge Ann Ashby, presiding Judge, 134th District Court, Dallas, Texas.

Hexbeam Antenna Modeling
 

On Mon, 08 Jun 2009 11:11:44 -0700, Jim Lux
wrote:

Here's my favorite:
http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=N_sEAAAAEBAJ&dq=5,982,276
Not exactly an antenna. It uses a MASER to (somehow) magnetically
couple Gigabit data to the power lines. The company is still around:
http://www.mediafusionllc.net

And reforming:
"The Media Fusion Team is now re-forming. Mr. William "Luke" Stewart
will act a temporary President and Chief Executive as well as Chief
Scientist. As other key resources are identified and recruited they
will become part of the Media Fusion, LLC Team. A recruiting committee
has been formed and recommendations are now being considered."

perhaps because of
15 dec 2006.. Preliminary settlement agreement signed by the honorable
Judge Ann Ashby, presiding Judge, 134th District Court, Dallas, Texas.

The old web sites are rather interesting:
http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.mediafusionllc.net

My favorite is the photos of the interface controller built into a
wall outlet box:
http://web.archive.org/web/20000229124801/www.mediafusionllc.net/northamerica/main/tech/interface.html
I showed it to a friend in the power industry who had some interesting
things to say about sharing a power outlet box with phone and cable.
However, the 14 flashing lights are kinda cool.

The problem with such patents is that if someone actually invents a
decent way to couple, distribute, and switch gigabit data on the power
lines, they'll end up in court fighting this patent. This is also
known as a "blocking patent".

It's sometimes fun to see where they spend their money. In 1999, they
burned $120K on lobbying. In 2000, they only wasted $70K.
https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientsum.php?lname=Media+Fusion+LLC&id=Y000003383 20&year=1999

Also, I dunno about the FTL (faster than light) antenna design. That
implies that the acknowledgements will arrive before the
transmissions, which will surely confuse a T/R switch. Perhaps a
predictive T/R switch will help (one that switches before one intends
to switch it).

--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

Hexbeam Antenna Modeling
 

Jeff Liebermann wrote:
. . .
Also, I dunno about the FTL (faster than light) antenna design. That
implies that the acknowledgements will arrive before the
transmissions, which will surely confuse a T/R switch. Perhaps a
predictive T/R switch will help (one that switches before one intends
to switch it).

The cool thing is that you'll get the QSL card before you have the QSO.
If no QSL comes, don't bother with the QSO.

Roy Lewallen, W7EL

Hexbeam Antenna Modeling
 

In article ,
wrote:

Jeff Liebermann wrote:
. . .
Also, I dunno about the FTL (faster than light) antenna design. That
implies that the acknowledgements will arrive before the
transmissions, which will surely confuse a T/R switch. Perhaps a
predictive T/R switch will help (one that switches before one intends
to switch it).

The cool thing is that you'll get the QSL card before you have the QSO.
If no QSL comes, don't bother with the QSO.

Roy Lewallen, W7EL

Hey! I thought one had to await for auroras in NJ for that to happen ;_)
73s from N4GGO,

John Wood (Code 5550) e-mail:
Naval Research Laboratory
4555 Overlook Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20375-5337

Hexbeam Antenna Modeling
 

In article ,
Roy Lewallen wrote:

Also, I dunno about the FTL (faster than light) antenna design. That
implies that the acknowledgements will arrive before the
transmissions, which will surely confuse a T/R switch. Perhaps a
predictive T/R switch will help (one that switches before one intends
to switch it).

The cool thing is that you'll get the QSL card before you have the QSO.
If no QSL comes, don't bother with the QSO.

But, if you *do* get the QSL card, you *must* make the QSO. No
excuses allowed. If you don't, you rupture the space-time continuum,
cause the entire Universe to end, and are cited by the Causality
Police and must pay a stiff fine.

--
Dave Platt AE6EO
Friends of Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior
I do _not_ wish to receive unsolicited commercial email, and I will
boycott any company which has the gall to send me such ads!