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GET /hyperkitty/api/list/[email protected]/email/2UZGJQNEUEBJUI7LC2DLQ7BRPJYK2KY2/
{ "url": "https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/api/list/[email protected]/email/2UZGJQNEUEBJUI7LC2DLQ7BRPJYK2KY2/", "mailinglist": "https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/api/list/[email protected]/", "message_id": "[email protected]", "message_id_hash": "2UZGJQNEUEBJUI7LC2DLQ7BRPJYK2KY2", "thread": "https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/api/list/[email protected]/thread/2UZGJQNEUEBJUI7LC2DLQ7BRPJYK2KY2/", "sender": { "address": "dave (a) druidnetworks.com", "mailman_id": "3b01b396750a47f287ea0c65babd40ea", "emails": "https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/api/sender/3b01b396750a47f287ea0c65babd40ea/emails/" }, "sender_name": "Dave Swanson", "subject": "[amsat-bb] Regular Arrow vs. Alaskan Arrow", "date": "2016-01-09T19:10:06Z", "parent": null, "children": [ "https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/api/list/[email protected]/email/NNN2YEOFTOJXMDU4Z7DORI2JQL4VDAUN/" ], "votes": { "likes": 0, "dislikes": 0, "status": "neutral" }, "content": "Hello Satellites friends and colleagues,\n\nSince I started making videos a few months back of my portable satellite \noperating, a lot of folks have picked up on the fact that I seem to use \nthe 'Alaskan' Arrow (AKA) pretty often. I also tend to use the AKA for \nDX contacts and very long distance QSOs which always make it into my \nmovies. Questions about the AKA versus the regular arrow have become by \nfar the most asked topic of me from other operators. Clayton, W5PFG, \nwrote an outstanding piece on his blog ( \nhttp://www.w5pfg.us/2015/10/my-thoughts-about-alaskan-arrow-146437.html \n) with his thoughts on the AKA, after his experience with one this fall, \nthat I'd recommend that anyone interested in this topic also go read. \nSince I don't have a blog though, this is the best forum I have to \nexpress thoughts on the matter. If you have no intention of ever \noperating portable, or are convinced some other design is superior, then \nfeel free to skip the rest of this thread. I'm not trying to make this \ninto anything other than an answer to frequently asked questions I get, \nconcerning the differences between the Regular Arrow and the Alaskan \nArrow, and to try and address the 'is it worth it' question that \ninevitably follows the 'which one should I get' question.\n\nSo, to start, the regular arrow is great antenna. I have one, and I use \nit for 95% of the passes I work. I used my regular arrow for my first \nQSOs with Brazil, Alaska, Hawaii, Northern Ireland, and England, all of \nwhich are between 5000km and 7200km from my home operating spots. It is \nlightweight, effective, and will suit the needs of nearly every \nsatellite operator out there that seeks a portable antenna. If (and this \nis a huge if, that's outside the scope of this post, but so so \nimportant) you have a nice operating spot that has a clear view of the \nhorizon with nothing in the way. You can easily work all birds in the \nsky AOS til LOS with the regular arrow, and be wildly successful. If I'm \nnot chasing 7000km+ DX, I'll be on my regular arrow. If I'm hanging my \narm out the window while /P in another grid? I'll be on my regular \narrow. Backyard 45° SO50 pass in the evening? Regular Arrow. Most of the \ntime, I'm on my regular Arrow. It probably doesn't look that way from \npictures and video, but I typically don't document my routine \noperating.. no one wants to see that, they only wanna see the cool stuff.\n\nSo, why do I own and use an AKA with everything I just wrote in mind?\n\nFirst, I do operate terrestrial VHF/UHF, as well as satellites, from \nmountain tops. For this type of work I'll physically attach the AKA with \nonly one set of elements installed to my mast, pop it up in the air, and \nwork folks in other grids on 2m or 70cm. If I'm Jeepin' to the mountain \ntop, my equipment has to break down into small enough pieces I can fit \nit inside, or if I'm hiking, it needs to be small and lightweight enough \nto carry up on my back. The AKA represents the highest gain, lightest \nweight, most portable solution that I could find for my style of \nmountain-topping.\n\nSecond, the AKA does have more gain, which is useful for working \nsatellites. It's not a lot more gain, and it's not required on most \npasses, but I routinely work at < 0.5° in max elevation from elevated \npositions while portable, and so every db counts. Most people are \nprobably not doing this... and judging by the considerable lack of \nactivity I hear in the birds on these passes, I think there's a fair \namount of evidence to support this theory. If you're routinely working \nexceptionally low passes at and near the horizon portable, then an AKA \nmight be for you. If not, I wouldn't worry about it.\n\nThird, as mentioned many times by others, the AKA is big and heavy. As \nJeff, NI3B, said a while back in a post \"Holding one of those things up \nin the air for fourteen minutes and your arms will look like Popeye the \nSailor Man at LOS.\" Combine this with my distaste for tripods, and you \ncan see where we've got an issue. While I don't care much for canned \nspinach, I am a six-foot, 250 pound man, I split firewood by hand, and I \ntry to keep myself pretty strong and in shape. I can hold the AKA for an \nentire pass without a huge issue, even thought my arms get pretty sore \nafter. I absolutely understand that others may not be capable, or simply \nmay not want to subject themselves to this kind of punishment. That's \nfine, you don't have too. Get a regular arrow, and save your biceps.. \nyou'll be just fine.\n\nSo in summary, If you're a mountain-top, multidisciplinary operator, \nthat wants superior portable performance, weight and muscle fatigue be \ndamned, then the AKA might be for you. If you're not, get the regular \narrow, you won't be sorry.\n\nFeel free to ask questions, provide critiques.\n\n73!\n\n-Dave, KG5CCI\n\n", "attachments": [] }