Bill said :

Homebrewed a K5OE Eggbeater II and tried it out today, Is this as good as it gets with an omnidirectional . . . ?

I have also recently built EB IIs for 144 and 435. (I actually built them for the recent VHF contest, hoping to also use them for satellite...)(there are not many choices for horizontally polarized, omni-directional antennas - these worked great in contest !! )

My tower has not erected itself after most recent cross-country move, so I have limited choices. Currently these two EB IIs are in the attic. Each one has an ARR 20dB preamp. Last weekend was the first chance I have had to try any satellite, and somehow managed one contact each via ISS cross-band, then AO-16, then AO-51, then on VO-52. I was pleased .!. This with a barefoot FT-736, 60 feet 9913 on each antenna, in the attic. I will be back on VO-52, as I really miss linear transponder/SSB combo. In the early 90's I was fairly active on AO-13, and the Microsats. I had multiple antennae on the Az/El rotor, but without all that now, the EB IIs are a great improvement over 1/4 wave, for me at least.

Thanks /;^)