E51WL, North Cook Islands.
|
This yagi was built in September 2009 for Warwick E51WL who is now back on Penrhyn atoll in the Northern Cook Islands (separate DXCC entity). The YU7EF EF0607 design was chosen from the VE7BQH 6M Antenna Comparison Table as it provided a simple 50 ohm feedpoint, reasonably good gain for boom length, a very good radiation pattern, and a wide bandwidth ... meaning there would be a tolerance to my home brew construction methods! It also fitted exactly on the tapered boom sections that I had available. The yagi was built in 1 day after modifying the element lengths to account for the tapered elements that I used so the antenna would break down into 1.25M lengths for shipping. 
On the 16 September at moonrise I made two EME QSOs to verify the yagi's performance. The signal from Lance W7GJ was detected just BEFORE the moon rose over the bay and we completed the QSO before the moon got into the main ground gain lobe of the antenna. Following on was Mick W1JJ whose signal peaked nicely as the moon went through the first ground gain lobe. Mick's signal was very strong (in EME terms!) and we exchanged random text messages after the formal QSO. 
The yagi will be taken to Rarotonga when we go there in November and I will forward it to Warwick on Penrhyn Island via the island trader ship. Hopefully Warwick will receive the yagi and install it in time for the southern hemisphere Es season. During the trip in November we will also install a 6M beacon on Rarotonga (South Cook Islands). |