On Tue, 21 Jul 2009 02:16:32 GMT, "Rick" wrote:

Even so I have worked EU with a 5 bay curtain mounted 30 feet up.

Do you know if you could also have worked EU at the same time if you had,
say a 2 element beam
on a 4 ft boom?
Or even a dipole?

Maybe if you had a converted CB vertical your signal into EU would have been
30 db stronger?

What kind of vertical provides 30 dBi?

Gain estimates for Sterba curtains are all over the map, 2 dBi per bay
is a commonly considered figure. A 5 bay curtain's gain is better than
any two element yagi or a single dipole. It may have been possible to
work EU with a either the yagi or a dipole but I have neither.

See my point?

No. There is no place at this QTH where a yagi can be mounted within a
hundred feet of the shack. Even with a HB yagi the required coax,
mast, rotor, rotor cable, guy supplies etc. represent a substantial
expense. Window line, insulators, rope and #14 THHN is a lot less
costly. Of course if someone wanted to gift the funds ... hi,

My seven-bay curtain was built and hung at 50 feet in less than day
with no assistance. I don't believe that can be done from the ground
up with a plumber's delight. Wire antennas don't require antenna
parties to go up or down. This makes both experimentation and
maintenance very easy,

My primary HF antenna is a full-wave loop for 160M. This antenna is
also fed using a balanced tuner and window line. The loop works well
on 6M but lacks the directionality on rx that a curtain provides. With
my curtains another benefit is going from NS to EW only takes the flip
of a switch.

There are situations where a Sterba curtain is a more viable choice
than a yagi. In my case even if trees and power lines didn't preclude
mounting a rooftop yagi, the landlord might not consent to such an
installation.

73 de n4jvp