Ideas for a 5.7 Ghz Field day antenna...

[VK5LA]

Hi all,
What is everyone's thought on a GOOD field day antenna for 5.7 Ghz?
Is it worth going with a medium sized dish? Will a panel antenna with say 21-24dBi be adequate for contact to 150Km?
What about grid packs? Anyone using the units available on eBay? I've thought about a dual band feed for my existing 10Ghz offset dish, but does this mean a compromise on performance on both bands?
I'm putting together all the stuff for a 5.7GHz transverter and need to organize an antenna of sorts, what success (and failures) have others experienced?
Cheers
Andy -VK5LA

[VK5TX]

I was have 100km+ FM contacts using my flat panel antenna.

Ben

[VK5LA]

Sounds good Ben, thanks for the link the other day...
Is the flat panel very pointy?
Andy -VK5LA

[VK5ZD]

Hi Andy

A panel antenna will be adequate for pretty much any line-of-sight contact in this part of the world.
I've worked 145km using a small horn (~15dbi gain).
I've also used dishes and grid antennas on this band. Obviously bigger equals more gain but also more space to transport.
A well designed dual band feed shouldn't compromise either bad.
Given the price ($30 delivered), I'd suggest getting a panel antenna just for the sake of having something that's small and easy to carry and deploy.

[VK4CLG]

Hi Andy.

I used this grid pack for my first ever microwave contact back in July.
http://www.rfshop.com.au/Store/tabid/63 ... fault.aspx

I'm only a new operator on microwave and haven't used it since so I can't give you any real performance data for it but I was using only 250mW and the contact distance was 180Kms so if that's anything to go by.
I'm now working on a 600mm dish setup for 5.7Ghz and it will be tested for the first time at this weekend's field day.

Cheers
Robert.
VK4LHD