Antennas are one of the final frontiers
of Ham radio. With the evolution of micro
electronics making it more difficult for Hams to experiment or modify equipment,
antenna design still offers a mode of design and experimentation.
Back in the early 90's I was bitten by the satellite communications bug. Unfortunately there was no one in my area working the satellites so I set off on an adventure to figure it out on my own. There were commercially available antennas and rotor/elevation systems out there for a price. It was that "for a price" issue that led me down many aisles of hardware and home improvement stores looking for hardware I could modify to build my own satellite array. After about six months of experimenting with trial and error methods I finally had a homebrew set of antennas ready for the birds (satellites). I will never forget the first time I transmitted a signal into (AO-13) Amateur Oscar satellite 13 and heard my voice coming back. There was a delay from this satellite that was in a geo synchronis orbit around the earth. What was even better was a guy heard me testing and called me through the satellite. We talked for about 30 minutes and I was hooked. All the work put into my homebrew satellite antenna system paid off in that one contact via outer space!
I was fortunate enough to have a good friend Tony (K8FAR) sell me his Cushcraft Boomer 4218xl a few years ago. This has been an awesome 2-meter SSB beam. With over 17 dbd of claimed gain it is easy to see why it works so very well. I have worked many stations from around the US and often tune in to hear big signals off the moon with this antenna.
For the lower bands due to small foot print in my real-estate I use three wire antennas as described below with great results. I would have to say that the Loop Sky Wire is one of the best general purpose antennas that will tune on almost every band using a tuner with pretty much Omni directional results. Regardless of it's "cloud burner" reputation I have worked the world with this loop. My Tri-Bander is an old Hy-Gain TH3 "Thunderbird" I rebuilt a few years ago using all stainless steel hardware since most of the original hardware was a total loss due to rust and corrosion.
A little early N8LFP antenna history in this photo. This was
my first "beam"
antenna, an Avanti PDL-II 2 element eleven meter beam. Thanks to my mom for
having the insight to snap this old Polaroid complete with hand written date of
May 28, 1978. I was 14 years old and enjoying the CB boom of the 70's. This
little PDL-II had been up through the previous winter months which means it
stayed up through the infamous January "Blizzard of 1978" in Ohio. Looking back
I realize how lucky I was that this antenna did not come down in this blizzard.
I was just an inexperienced 13 year old kid at the time I put this up. With no
real knowledge of antennas including the mechanics it was a miracle it survived
such a storm.
Click on Picture for full screen view
Left = 2-meter 4218XL / Right = homebrew satellite & terrestrial antennas with Gaas-Fet mast mounted preamps, 2 meter and 432mhz homebrew power dividers & homebrew elevation control.
Close up view of homebrew satellite array that also doubles as 432 mhz (21 elements X 2) terrestrial antenna and 2-meter beam (11 elements X 2).
2-meter 4218XL mounted above very old restored Hy-Gain TH3 Thunderbird Tri-Bander. By restored I mean I replaced all old hardware with stainless steel components.
10-Meter Cubical Quad under construction with help from Jon (KB8JYQ) left and Dave (KD8MVG) on tower. I'm the guy in the middle supervising.
Wire antennas (aerial view)
The above aerial photo shows the configuration of my wire antennas as follows:
Yellow = 80 Meter Full Wave Loop Sky Wire
Red = 40 Meter Inverted "V"
Green = 80 Meter Sloper
Feel Free to send me your feedback and or comments by clicking HERE
Copyright 2009-2010