Worth switching to a GAP Titan DX Vertical from current setup?

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weccwwe

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Hey all,

Currently using a Alpha Delta DX-CC in inverted dipole setup ( dont have enough real estate to use it as a parallel),

Local Retiring Ham has one of these GAP titan DX that he is selling, Wondering if that is considered an upgrade.

Usually approx 75% of my time on the air is using 3700Mhz - 3800MHz on 80 and the rest is on 40 and 20

Regards
 

K6GBW

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If you're on the lower bands its hard to beat a horizontal wire. I've done the whole vertical thing and in my opinion they are best left for situations were you just can't put up a wire. The Alpha Delta is a really good antenna and I doubt you'd get the same performance with the GAP. Also, GAP antennas can be a real pain to tune. Just my 2 cents. I'm sure others will have a different opinion.
 

prcguy

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I had a GAP Titan. It tuned up real nice on 40 through 10m and was really narrow band on 80m. It talked about as good as a dummy load with a short piece of wire attached compared to my other antennas, which were noting special at the time. When you hear someone raving about a GAP Titan, ask them what they compared it against. Most often you will find its the only antenna they ever had and have no clue what a good antenna is all about.

So why is your local ham getting rid of it? Maybe it works like a dummy load with some wire attached?
 

N4GIX

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My first HF antenna when I moved into my current house several decades ago was a GAP Challenger vertical. It was very disappointing performance wise. I wound up simply giving it away to anyone who wanted it and would help take it down and apart. Like said above it was a major PITA to get tuned.

My current G5RV Junior is performing very well! I don't have enough real-estate for a full-sized G5RV (102'), but the Junior at 52' length up at 32' at both ends is a good compromise. It won't tune 80m or 160m of course, but there's plenty of activity on 40m through 10m.

If you simply must have a vertical, I highly recommend the DX-Commander Classic as the minimum. Callum has some even better ones. Currently his top-of-the-line is the "Neboola" (play on words for Nebula).

Nebula xTreme DX Commander 18m Antenna Kit

Building on the success of the original DX Commander Classic, I am proud to launch the 18m eXtreme which delivers all HF bands from 80m through 6m (and 4m) in a vertical package with a price/performance curve, unrivalled by any other antenna on the market that will achieve more DX, great reception and instant band-hopping.
 
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weccwwe

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Hi all, thank you for all your replies

Sounds like I should just hang on to my Alpha Delta DX-CC based on your guy's replies.

I think that they are moving into a seniors home and he is selling it.

I do have the Alpha Delta DX-CC setup as an inverted v, but I don't think that it is the appropriate setup for it, if I understand the owner manual, it should be completely parallel. Don't have enough real estate to go completely flat out.

Also have it set up facing due north/south between 2 houses, houses about 20 feet apart, thinking that might be impeding its performance too.

This is why I was entertaining a vertical
 
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K6GBW

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The inverted V isn't going to hurt performance as much as you might think. When it comes to horizontal(ish) wires the predominate factor in performance is height. If it's below 60 feet it will be omnidirectional and NVIS on 80-40 and have varying degrees of gain on 20 and up. Don't worry too much about that. I'd be willing to bet that the vast majority of hams have low dipoles because putting wires high is a challenge for most of us. We still make contacts! As for the houses, they might be effecting it a little bit if they are stucco with chicken wire behind it. But, if there's nothing you can do about it then just put it up as high as you can safely manage and work with it. My very first wire antenna was a 40-10 meter EFHW that was only 15-20 feet high and I talked to Canada from Los Angeles all the time. Out here in L.A. what they call trees are really just big bushes so I finally put up a small 22' tower with an 8' mast. So now I have a center fed dipole at 30' and it gets the job done.
 
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