Case Study
January 2023	Publisher:  Information Station Specialists	Subscribe to The Source
Get the Lowdown on the Lowdown 630-Meter Antenna by Tom Costa, N9RU, Marion, IL In January 2023, Tom Costa (N9RU) of Marion, Illinois, installed the first 630-meter antenna site using the newly available Lowdown Antenna (630.PD). He was able to work Information Station Specialists and other HAMs during February antenna test nights in which company representative Paul Dobosz (K8PD) transmitted/received via FST4 (with 2-3 watts EIRP) from the company’s test site in Michigan.   "Pretty impressive for such a small antenna." Tom Costa “After watching testing of ‘The Lowdown’ antenna on the air, I got to thinking [that] if it really is plug-n-play, it would, make a nice backup antenna and maybe portable. I ordered one with mounting insulators.” “All the antenna parts were very well made and machined, no problem assembling at all! Pictures show my progress. Thanks for an easy 630 antenna solution.” “I made a ground radial ring with twenty-four, 25’ radials. It took over a month to get this done with the weather and everything. [I trimmed] the top elements according to the instructions. The SWR was 1.31:1 after trimming and after the balun, it was 1.03:1.” “I buried the radials and the feedline. Just limited testing so far but I’m impressed. I will keep it up for a backup to the 350’ circumference loop. It actually lets me work north and south better than the loop.” “I’m impressed to see an antenna that is so easy to tune; and the dimensions were very close to their test antenna’s.“ “Thanks for an easy 630 antenna solution.” Tom Costa later submitted the below WSPR map. He is working as far west as San Diego, despite nearby storms. His evaluation: "A nice omni pattern, even with all the storms to the north. We just need more operators down here. Hopefully this antenna will inspire more to try 630." At the Antenna Base: THEMATCHBOX Matching Transformer & Costa’s Home-Built Groundplane "Stations that heard me overnight,"  Costa, Oct 9, 2025
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Information Radio Stations is a generic term synonymous with Travelers Information Stations (TIS), Highway Advisory Radio Stations (HAR) / Highway Information Systems & Low Power Radio Stations (LPR). Operation of the stations is governed by FCC Part 90.242 Rules. A FCC license is required. Information Radio Stations may be fixed or portable. Subcomponents may include transmitter, antenna and ground system, digital voice player, wattmeter, cabinet with conventional or Corbin locks, lightning arrestors for RF, power and telephone lines, coaxial cable. Most stations employ black maximized antennas to discourage ice accumulation and security measures to prevent unauthorized program access. Options include synchronization, battery backup, solar power, remote programming by local, network or telco, multi-station audio distribution via RF or LAN / WAN or wireless network.