The arrow was never a great antenna. Antenna guru Kent Britain once said something to the effect the Arrow was designed to have the elements insulated from the boom, but they are not.   There is plenty room for improvement, but it is such a handy design from a mechanical view and it does what we need…

There was talk of an ‘improved Arrow’ but it never appeared. I had hoped when Arrow bought Gulf Alpha they would run with one of those designs, but no such luck.

I still regret parting with my Gulf Alpha, man that was a good antenna, both mechanically and in terms of performance.

If someone decides to run with an ‘Improved Arrow’ or resurrects the Gulf Alpha, count me in.

73,

Joe kk0sd

From: Richard Lawn <rjlawn@gmail.com>
Sent: Sunday, July 25, 2021 9:20 PM
To: amsat-bb@amsat.org
Subject: [AMSAT-BB] Using Arrow Antennas

I’ve made phasing lines for two Arrow antennas. I decided to use my RigExpert to first check SWR on the antennas and found some surprising results. At 435 mhz, which is close to where much of the satellite activity is, I’m seeing 3:1, at 437 mhz it’s 2.4:1 and it’s best reading of 1.3:1 is at 440 mhz. 

I’ve successfully used a single Arrow from my summer QTH for years and it’s measurements are much better than this brand new 2nd Arrow. 

I’ve tried adjusting the match and that seems to make no real improvement in terms of lowering the resonant frequency on 70cm. 

There doesn’t seem to be such a problem on the 2 m side.

I really need to get both antennas to have a reasonable and similar SWR readings at 436 mhz before introducing the phasing lines and so far I’m having real trouble making that happen. Any suggestions will be appreciated. And yes I’ve checked to make sure I built the antenna properly with all of the elements in the right places.

Rick, W2JAZ 

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