On Dec 9, 3:49*pm, Tom Horne wrote:
*How long might it take to assemble once it is
fully assembled and tested and then carefully dismantled into a well
marked kit. *I am open to hearing that there is an equal or better
performer that would be easier to assemble for a height of only fifty
feet. *The positions I've read so far indicate a greater gain, a lower
take off angle at any given height, as well as a quieter receiving
performance for the quad. *Naturally I would prefer real world
experience to a theoretical discussion partially because I am not yet
well educated enough in antenna theory to fully understand the
theoretical arguments.

Greater gain per element? The way I see it is the 3 el quad would
have slightly more gain only due to the slight extra gain of it's loop
driven element, vs a dipole driven element on a 3 el yagi.
Is the extra gain worth the extra trouble? Not to me, but mpg will
vary to the user..
Lower angles per a given height above ground? I'd have to model them
to compare, but I don't think it would be enough to worry about.
Lower noise levels? This one I don't agree with unless you are in
an area such as high altitudes where corona discharge might be an
issue.
For most normal uses, I don't believe the loop has any lower noise
than a dipole. Noise is RF just like any other signal. If a certain
antenna receives less noise than another, it would also receive
a lower level from desired signals if they were from the same
direction and angle. For the most part, I think the claims of lower
noise reception from loops vs dipoles are pretty much hooey, and
not worth worrying about.

By "special event" antenna, I assume you mean one which can
be hauled and erected at most any location. IE: much the same
as a "field day" antenna..
It's up to you, and the amount of work you want to deal with.
Would I use a 3 el quad for a special events or field day array?
Nope.. Too much work and maintenance for my blood.
For a portable beam that can be planted about anywhere I use
a short tiltover-crankup tower with a A4S planted on it.
http://home.comcast.net/~nm5k/fd01-1.jpg
The tower can fit in the back of my trucks, but I now have a
motorcycle trailer that can haul it all.
http://home.comcast.net/~nm5k/fd2.jpg
And even that setup is a bit of work, and requires more than
one person to erect. But it can be slapped together and cranked
into the air fairly fast if I have a few extra hands standing around.
The performance while not earthshaking is pretty good.
They won 10m phone with it the first year I tried it. And 20
and 15 are good on it too, being as it's pretty much full size
on all bands. IE: the 20/15m reflector is 32 feet.. And 10m
has it's own reflector which is at a better spacing than if it
were using the larger reflector for all three bands.
BTW, my rig doesn't go to 50 feet. Only about 31 feet..
But that's usually plenty high enough for gov work on the
higher bands.