I have a Cushcraft A144-20T. Twice as many elements in each plane than yours. I run both a vertical and horizontal coax to my shack and use a crossover coax switch with phasing and impedance matching coax to generate switchable circular polarization in the shack. Works great for me. The polarization change makes a big difference at times on the satellites..
I can also run just vertical or horizontal polarization by changing the coax configuration in the shack. In fact, you can use the same crossover switch as a SPDT to experiment with changing between horizontal and vertical polarization. I do this during VHF contests sometimes. I have also worked meteor scatter with it.
I have been using this antenna for 25 years with no problems. I used it with AO10, AO13 and AO40 with no problems. The low orbit birds are really loud compared to the high orbits birds.
73, Bill NJ1H
On 10/3/2013 10:18 PM, Les Rayburn wrote:
I just acquired a "new" in the-box, never assembled Crushcraft A144-10T "VHF Twist" antenna. It includes the cabling to allow the user to select left or right hand polarization. My questions are numerous:
1.) How is the performance on this antenna, compared to more modern designs?
2.) If I were going to install it inside my attic, should I chose left or right hand polarization?
3.) Any caveats or things to watch out for?
Any information that could be provided would be great. I was thrilled when a friend stopped by and asked me if I'd be interested in the antenna. Good price too.