Interesting indeed.
If it is as heinously sketchy as all that, perhaps revisiting and rethinking both the EOC HF (80/40m) antennas is in order. I’m absolutely open to suggestions. I would imagine Haskell is too.
By way of explanation, my preference and choice of this style and build was based mostly on real-world personal experience with both performance and durability. That said, I readily admit some investment bias. Previously, they couldn’t keep the existing G5RV in the air, (due to breakage) it’s thrice busted deceased body is currently laying on top of the roof, unloved and unremoved. Why the Dubb-Buzz choice for replacement? That’s as simple as it is pragmatic. What it eventually boiled down to was, whomever was actually willing to step up, climb up and get the bloody thing (HF antenna) hung and going again, kinda got to do the pickin’ and choosin’. So I pickeded and chooseded.
A high-dollar store-bought job is probably a better idea in that environment anyway. When it eventually craters out, there might be a warranty left to offset the reinvestment cost. Hanging it, however, is a different story. I’ve been up to that roof line hanging the current DB, and don’t particularly fancy a return trip. I’ll go up once more to retrieve this one, but that’s it. Most of it (by design and execution) can be removed or replaced from the ground. Colour me lazy. (It went up and on-line about an hour before The Great Eclipse Darkening.) A commercial antenna, though, surely deserves a nice whiz-bang professional (read: expensive) installation job. I’d imagine Randy would also absolutely prefer somebody with significant insurance coverage.
That being said, when the next-best-better-idea comes on line … I’ll happily accept the return of the parts of the one which is up there now. I’ve got a healthy chunk of change invested in it, (custom cut LMR-400 ain’t flippin’ cheap) and can use the assorted pieces and parts at home. Regardless of what that guy in the link thinks, I’m gonna keep my dubble-bubble collection anyway.
So … by way of a higher-performance replacement recommendation … whatcha got?