Nick Taylors blog

While up on the roof, winterizing the swamp cooler, I decided to swap-out my Diamond X50A dual-band antenna with a tri-band Diamond X6000A, which I’ve had sitting in the garage for a while. It was just in May that I installed the X50A.

It was an easy install, though I did install a second chimney bracket (a Channel Master 9067) as the X6000A is much longer, and I also re-terminated the co-ax using N-connectors rather than PL-259s. I’m glad to make the move to N-connectors, as well as having better impedance characteristics, they seem better quality than the PL259s (I especially like the Times Microwave TC-400-NMC that I’m using on my LMR400 cable).

The X6000A is a big bugger, at over 3m long, but it’s specs are impressive:

Band

2m/70cm/23cm

Gain (dB)

6.5/9/10

Max Power Rating

100/60

Wind Rating

112 MPH (no ice)

Height (feet/meters)

10.5/3.05

Connector

Type-N

Element Phasing

2-5/8l, 5-5/8l, 6-5/8l

So it’s about a 2dB gain over the X50A on 2m and 70cm. Of course, it now opens up the world of 23cm to me, which I’m looking forward to when I get my Icom ID-1 – D-STAR too! Of course, it’s an omnidirectional antenna, so I won’t get fantastic gain in any direction but I think it’ll be a great place to start on the 23cm band.

Installation Instructions are here (PDF link)

I suppose as it’s made of concrete this is also a “new hard drive”. Anyway, work on the new driveway has started. The old one was probably from the 60’s, and didn’t drain properly as well as not being wide enough for the 2 car garage. And we also had a big hole from the pipe which burst back in October 2006.
There’s a whole set of photos over on my Twango House channel.