After a long, long winter with feet of snow, finally the Dolomites have some sun and this will allow me to install the antenna on the roof of the house HEXBEAM produced by SP9IDX, Waldi, customized to suit my needs. I am very curious to verify the performance of this antenna, my current set-up includes an antenna vertical GAP TITAN DX and a vertical bands 40/80/160 meters by IT9ZMX. The GAP TITAN works fine but I was curious to try this particular antenna, especially for directional antenna characteristics, of low noise so high S / N ratio. My philosophy is the continuous search for new solutions, especially low noise this antenna seems to meet my expectations. The HexBeam has always intrigued me but I was very doubtful about the mechanical seal and life expectations , after the appropriate checks and feedback from other fellow amateur radio operators, particularly those who live in climates similar to mine, I decided to buy it. Probably I will install the Hexbeam Saturday the 8th June with my friend Ettore IZ3ZVO, new entry in the world of amateur radio. We have already brought a trellis on the roof of 7 meters of total lencht, with base and mast of about 1.5 meters, then the antenna will be installed at about 9 meters from the roof and about 18 meters above the ground, considering the tall of my home .
One must consider that I live in the mountains in the Eastern Dolomites, at an altitude of about 1000 meters above sea level with large natural obstacles such as mountains of 2500-3200 meters covering the visual, but compared to other colleagues who live in the same area, I am lucky because about 160 degrees of the horizont are free so I can point the beam antenna and attempt for long path QSO. Also I have to say that in spite of what I thought using simulation programs, many times I get reports R / S above my expectations. So I think the trial is always better than a simulation program, as may be more accurate. In fact, the propagation conditions, the conductivity of the soil and a little skill factors are certainly important and influential in the success of a QSO.