Arrow Antennas for terrestrial work
Most of the reviews I have seen for the Arrow Antenna dualband yagis are regarding their use on the satellites, which I think is what they are mainly made for. Has anyone on the list used one of their dualband antennas mounted permanently for terrestrial work as well? They do sell a mounting bracket for permanent mounting to a mast.
Do they seem well made enough to withstand the outside elements for a few years on end? Do they seem to perform as well as other antennas which have approximately the same boom size and number of elements?
73 John W5TD
I have used mine multiple times for terrestrial contacts, SSB during January VHF contest and FM into repeaters too far away to work with a vertical on my car.
There is a mast mount, which I have used, but only as a temporary setup. I could see the gamma matches not working well for a permanent outdoor antenna, and the elements might get loose over time with temperature differences. It is possible that this would not happen as the differences would not be as extreme as going from indoor-outdoors.
On Sun, Jan 26, 2020, 18:07 John Geiger via AMSAT-BB amsat-bb@amsat.org wrote:
Most of the reviews I have seen for the Arrow Antenna dualband yagis are regarding their use on the satellites, which I think is what they are mainly made for. Has anyone on the list used one of their dualband antennas mounted permanently for terrestrial work as well? They do sell a mounting bracket for permanent mounting to a mast.
Do they seem well made enough to withstand the outside elements for a few years on end? Do they seem to perform as well as other antennas which have approximately the same boom size and number of elements?
73 John W5TD _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Besides the mechanical issues that others have noted, one thing to consider is that the 2m / 70cm elements are at 90 degrees from each other. If you want to mix repeater and weak-signal uses, you may need a way to rotate the beam so that the polarization is optimized for the band and use you are engaged in.
Greg KO6TH
John Geiger via AMSAT-BB wrote:
Most of the reviews I have seen for the Arrow Antenna dualband yagis are regarding their use on the satellites, which I think is what they are mainly made for. Has anyone on the list used one of their dualband antennas mounted permanently for terrestrial work as well? They do sell a mounting bracket for permanent mounting to a mast.
Do they seem well made enough to withstand the outside elements for a few years on end? Do they seem to perform as well as other antennas which have approximately the same boom size and number of elements?
73 John W5TD _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
In my opinion, the Elk Log Periodic is better suited than the Arrow for permanent mounting.
The downside is the gain on 70 cm compared to an Arrow. Even then, it will work. I used one during the June VHF contest and was able to work UHF with 20w to the same places I did on VHF with 50w (around 250 miles).
A plus is having both bands on the same polarization.
73 Fernando, KF7R
On Mon, Jan 27, 2020, 3:58 PM Greg D via AMSAT-BB amsat-bb@amsat.org wrote:
Besides the mechanical issues that others have noted, one thing to consider is that the 2m / 70cm elements are at 90 degrees from each other. If you want to mix repeater and weak-signal uses, you may need a way to rotate the beam so that the polarization is optimized for the band and use you are engaged in.
Greg KO6TH
John Geiger via AMSAT-BB wrote:
Most of the reviews I have seen for the Arrow Antenna dualband yagis are regarding their use on the satellites, which I think is what they are mainly made for. Has anyone on the list used one of their dualband antennas mounted permanently for terrestrial work as well? They do sell
a
mounting bracket for permanent mounting to a mast.
Do they seem well made enough to withstand the outside elements for a few years on end? Do they seem to perform as well as other antennas which
have
approximately the same boom size and number of elements?
73 John W5TD _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership.
Opinions expressed
are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of
AMSAT-NA.
Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite
program!
Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
I had an arrow antenna outside for years on my roof in Brooklyn. So in all weathers. +30C to -20C. You need to seal the matching stub or water can get in. As others have mentioned the elements will seize in place and rust. So you can't take it down later and reuse it. You have to cut the elements off. Otherwise they last a few years for sure. So if you have a spare one that is otherwise going to waste, you can use it. Otherwise an antenna designed for outdoor use is better.
73 Chris
On Mon, Jan 27, 2020 at 6:43 PM Fernando Ramirez via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb@amsat.org> wrote:
In my opinion, the Elk Log Periodic is better suited than the Arrow for permanent mounting.
The downside is the gain on 70 cm compared to an Arrow. Even then, it will work. I used one during the June VHF contest and was able to work UHF with 20w to the same places I did on VHF with 50w (around 250 miles).
A plus is having both bands on the same polarization.
73 Fernando, KF7R
On Mon, Jan 27, 2020, 3:58 PM Greg D via AMSAT-BB amsat-bb@amsat.org wrote:
Besides the mechanical issues that others have noted, one thing to consider is that the 2m / 70cm elements are at 90 degrees from each other. If you want to mix repeater and weak-signal uses, you may need a way to rotate the beam so that the polarization is optimized for the band and use you are engaged in.
Greg KO6TH
John Geiger via AMSAT-BB wrote:
Most of the reviews I have seen for the Arrow Antenna dualband yagis
are
regarding their use on the satellites, which I think is what they are mainly made for. Has anyone on the list used one of their dualband antennas mounted permanently for terrestrial work as well? They do
sell
a
mounting bracket for permanent mounting to a mast.
Do they seem well made enough to withstand the outside elements for a
few
years on end? Do they seem to perform as well as other antennas which
have
approximately the same boom size and number of elements?
73 John W5TD _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership.
Opinions expressed
are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views
of
AMSAT-NA.
Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite
program!
Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership.
Opinions
expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite
program!
Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
I agree with Fernando. I used my Elk during the winter VHF contest and for VHF/UHF simplex work on SOTA. The mounting is easily rotated to accommodate vertical or horizontal polarization
Rick Tejera (K7TEJ) Saguaro Astronomy Club www.saguaroastro.org Thunderbird Amateur Radio Club www.W7TBC.org
-----Original Message----- From: AMSAT-BB amsat-bb-bounces@amsat.org On Behalf Of Fernando Ramirez via AMSAT-BB Sent: Monday, January 27, 2020 4:28 PM To: Greg D ko6th.greg@gmail.com Cc: AMSAT amsat-bb@amsat.org Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Arrow Antennas for terrestrial work
In my opinion, the Elk Log Periodic is better suited than the Arrow for permanent mounting.
The downside is the gain on 70 cm compared to an Arrow. Even then, it will work. I used one during the June VHF contest and was able to work UHF with 20w to the same places I did on VHF with 50w (around 250 miles).
A plus is having both bands on the same polarization.
73 Fernando, KF7R
On Mon, Jan 27, 2020, 3:58 PM Greg D via AMSAT-BB amsat-bb@amsat.org wrote:
Besides the mechanical issues that others have noted, one thing to consider is that the 2m / 70cm elements are at 90 degrees from each other. If you want to mix repeater and weak-signal uses, you may need a way to rotate the beam so that the polarization is optimized for the band and use you are engaged in.
Greg KO6TH
John Geiger via AMSAT-BB wrote:
Most of the reviews I have seen for the Arrow Antenna dualband yagis are regarding their use on the satellites, which I think is what they are mainly made for. Has anyone on the list used one of their dualband antennas mounted permanently for terrestrial work as well? They do sell
a
mounting bracket for permanent mounting to a mast.
Do they seem well made enough to withstand the outside elements for a few years on end? Do they seem to perform as well as other antennas which
have
approximately the same boom size and number of elements?
73 John W5TD _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring
membership.
Opinions expressed
are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of
AMSAT-NA.
Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite
program!
Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
_______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
participants (6)
-
Chris Thompson -
Don KB2YSI -
Fernando Ramirez -
Greg D -
John Geiger -
Rick Tejera