First Antenna build

[VK3VKT]

Just finished making my first home made aerial

http://vk2zoi.com/articles/dual-band-hi ... lower-pot/


seams to work receives fine on both bands just need to get a SWR meter on it or a analyser to see if it is safe to transmit

[VK4WDM]

Congratulations! Home brewing antennas can be fun.

This is a new design to me, it looks very interesting! Looking forward to hearing how it goes on transmit.

Simple antennas like this are capable on transmitting hundreds of miles with 10w on 2m when sporadic E propagation is in so I might be able to work you from Townsville in coming days.

73

Wayne VK4WDM

[VK3AZZ]

Hi,
I built one of those antennas about 2 years ago. It works pretty well, but I could not get the VSWR as low as the article suggests.

The only difference is that I used electrical conduit rather than the plastic water pipe suggested in the article. Probably different permeability.

It was fun to build though.


Cheers,
Mal (VK3AZZ)

[VK2FAK]

Hi all..

Well looks an interesting antenna, I had been meaning to search around and see what it actually was as I had seen the nane a few times....don't have to now...hi hi

I would think , as it seems that part of the actual antenna comes in contact with the type of plastic or whatever ......it would have to be the right material to avoid problems...

I have always found that the tx side is where you find the issues.......so good luck with the TX and hope it all comes good as expected...

John

[VK3VKT]

Hi guy well i finally got to check the antenna down at the club with a SWR meter and a analyser

2m Band SWR was 1.1:1 in the middle of the band on with a max swr of 1.3:1

70cm Band SWR was 1.5:1 in the middle of the band on with a max swr of 1.6:1

the ohms was a little low at 40 so i think the resonant freq is a little off

but seems all good to use for now

cheer's Andy

[VK3AUU]

I am not too sure why this is claimed to be a high gain antenna when it mentions using RG/58 which is a good dummy load on VHF frequencies.
Also Wayne mentions being able to work long distances on 144 when there is sporadic E. May be so, but you might have to wait a long time if this season is anything to go by, like zilch.

Throw it away and build yourself a DL6WU yagi and see what a real antenna will do for you.

Sorry to be so brutal.

David

[VK2GOM]

DL6WU's are a bit old hat, it has to be said, that are now easily bettered by modern optimised designs.

If you want to go the Yagi route, check out modern properly optimised antennas like the G0KSC LFA's, or the DK7ZB range of Yagis.

All are fairly easy to build, although for the LFA's you will require a small hand bender to bend 10mm Aluminium tube.

73 - Rob VK2GOM / GW0MOH

[VK3AUU]

Rob,
The DL6WU might be old hat, but it is only a fraction of a db below the gain of the best of the newer designs and what is more to the point it is not critical to build, it is well matched at lengths of 7, 10, 14 and 19 element lengths and is an ideal antenna for a beginner to start with. The numbers on the VK5DJ site at http://www.vk5dj.com/yagi.html tell you all you need to know.

David

[VK3MEG]

so how does it goes have you acessed a few repeaters etc?

[VK2GOM]

Hi David, agreed - but it depends what you want to achieve.

Although actual gain might not be too different, the newer modelled Yagi's perform vastly better in terms of G/T and suppression of unwanted lobes, but even then, the DL6WU will indeed be an improvement for SSB use over a vertical

73 - Rob VK2GOM / GW0MOH

[VK3VKT]

so how does it goes have you acessed a few repeaters etc?

not yet goes up tomorrow

[VK6ADF]

How about congratulating Andy on building his first antenna. Not telling him it's no good and build a better one. It's a big achievement when you build your first antenna and a pleasure to use it. In time he will soon understand it might not hear what others hear and then decide as the first one was a pleasant experience to build, and to have a go at another. He probably does not have the experience others have, so chose a simpler design to start off. Depending on his interests it might be all he needs.

So well done Andy for the start to antenna building.

[VK3VKT]

How about congratulating Andy on building his first antenna. Not telling him it's no good and build a better one. It's a big achievement when you build your first antenna and a pleasure to use it. In time he will soon understand it might not hear what others hear and then decide as the first one was a pleasant experience to build, and to have a go at another. He probably does not have the experience others have, so chose a simpler design to start off. Depending on his interests it might be all he needs.

So well done Andy for the start to antenna building.

thanks Phil

[VK3BJM]

Good stuff, Andy.

My first Yagi builds used the old American NBS designs; they were a bit ho-hum, but they worked. After a couple of years I wanted something better, and I went with a 144 MHz DL6WU that David VK3AUU modeled for me. That move was from 6 elements to 14, so I was getting more serious, and wanted an improvement that I could easily see. And I did!

But the previous Yagi building gave me valuable practice in the building area - every Yagi I've built since then has added to it. Admittedly, I like building stuff - to date, over the last 22 years, I've built 30 Yagi, iirc, and two Quads... Plus other assorted other antennas.

I've just rebuilt my 2 m H-frame, with a slightly improved spacing, to carry my four existing 14 element DL6WU Yagi for a dabble in EME. Admittedly, I could of taken the opportunity to replace them with something newer, and a tad more optimised - like the LFAs that are all the rage. But if I did that, I (1) wouldn't have a clear appreciation of how much better the future array works compared to the current one; or (2) have something to look forward to doing in two years time (after I've finished putting up the second tower, with the new 4x 28 element 432 MHz Yagi array...).

We should never undervalue gaining experience through experiencing...

Enjoy your building, Andy.

73,
Barry
VK3BJM

P.S. David, VK3AUU; you should know better than to suggest "Throw it away..." A good amateur never throws anything away. Perhaps sell it, to fund the purchase of other vital equipment; but never throw it away!

[VK3MEG]

VK3MEG wrote:so how does it goes have you acessed a few repeaters etc?


not yet goes up tomorrow

your patient when I make something I have to test it out straight away..it can be a bit hard making a 10m contact at 10pm at night but I try
congrats on the build pics would be good as well as a report
cheers

[VK3AUU]

Perhaps if we closed down all the repeaters, which are generally unused anyway, then new operators would see the wisdom in building more useful antennas and they would also find, that contrary to what they seem to have been taught, VHF is not restricted to only line of sight operation.

David

[VK3AIF]

Perhaps if we closed down all the repeaters, which are generally unused anyway, then new operators would see the wisdom in building more useful antennas and they would also find, that contrary to what they seem to have been taught, VHF is not restricted to only line of sight operation.

David

Yeah pretty much agree with your sentiments there Dave with a couple of minor amendments:-

One: I have worked a fairly reasonable distance on 2M while mobile with only 20 W and a 5/8, with FM to boot so perhaps a mediocre antenna should not be discounted altogether. The more activity on the band the better, not just the high powered stations, high powered = High EIRP not just the 400 W mob.

Two: I use an iteration of this antenna and can regularly hear interstate beacons and trigger interstate repeaters so I would not be so quick to discount it.

Any aerial is infinitely better than no aerial??

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