Big-wheel 2m antenna.

Most of my 2m activity is FT8 for which I use my big-wheel horizontal antenna.  This works very well. It has a few dB of horizontal gain and being omni-directional does not need a rotator.

Although this has been mentioned before on this blog, some may be interested.

It is mounted on the side of our bungalow at about roof height. If higher it might be even better.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/antennas/bigwheel

Clover-leaf 2m antenna

This has been on before, but I am very pleased with my big-wheel 2m antenna.

Some people call them "clover leaf" antennas as that is what they look like. These are horizontally polarised omni-directional antennas for 2m (in my case). Although I am not sure of the radiation pattern, it is quite a good match on 70cm too.

Mine has been up for several years now and I am very pleased with it. Only today my 2.5W FT8 TX signal was copied (again) in Eire and Germany. It has a few dB of gain in all directions. For my sort of operating it is ideal and it gets used for UKAC sessions on 2m and 70cm SSB as well as for FT8. Some may want the extra gain and directionality afforded by a beam, but beams need rotators.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/antennas/bigwheel

Big-wheel antennas

As many know, I opted for a 2m big-wheel antenna rather than a beam and rotator. This seems to match my sort of operating well. My noise level on 2m is still low thankfully and it was far cheaper than a beam and rotator. On FT8 it gets me considerable distances even in flat conditions and even with QRP SSB it usually gets me over 200km.

The big-wheel has a real fan here!

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/antennas/bigwheel

2m big wheel antenna

For several years now I have been using a big-wheel horizontal omni-directional antenna. This has a few dB of gain and does not need a rotator.

With 2.5W SSB it regularly gets me 200km in the Tuesday evening UKAC activity contests organised by the RSGB. On FT8 my QRP CQs are regularly copied in Cornwall under flat conditions. Most days, I spot stations in 7 countries by aircraft reflection on 2m FT8. What surprised me was it is quite effective on 70cm SSB. Most sessions my 70cm QRP is copied over 100km.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/antennas/bigwheel

Big-Wheel review

The first article that I have written since my stroke has been published. This was a 1 page article about my Big-Wheel 2m antenna in the Jan 2016 edition of RadCom. David G0LRD kindly did the erection for me. I was really grateful to him. He just came over and did it.  A true hero in the real spirit of amateur radio. A million thanks David.

The short article was a start. I hope I can do a few more in 2016.

2m and 70cm UKACs

It must be my age!  My XYL said last Tuesday "have you got a contest tonight?" I said, "no" thinking it was the end of November. Somehow I also read my email reminder of the 70cm UKAC too late last night.  So, I managed to miss both the 2m and 70cm December legs of the monthly RSGB activity contests, thinking it was the end of November still!

Incidentally, my article on the big-wheel antenna for 2m is in the January RadCom. If I had remembered, this is the antenna I would have used! It works well and is a horizontal omni with gain. Mine was very kindly erected by David G0LRD, to whom I am much indebted.

2m big-wheel and feeder on HF

As an experiment I loaded up my feeder and 2m big-wheel on HF tuned against a mains ground. It matched on 40m, 30m, 20m, 17m and 15m but it did not like 10m. I have still to try other bands. On 15m it was getting USA spots on the first transmission at 2W and on 40m it got 9 spots (all Europeans) in the first TX with no effort. It was receiving well on all the bands I tried and giving plenty of stations spots via WSPRnet. The feeder and 2m big-wheel, tuned with my LDG ATU, would allow me to WSPR on most HF bands. One night I shall try the 2m big-wheel and feeder on 472kHz, using a ferrite rod to resonate it and a 3C39 toroid to match it. It will be interesting to see how this compares with the earth-electrode "antenna".

UPDATE 1427z:  I see my 10m WSPR has been spotted by FR1GZ (9724km) using the 500mW beacon and Par triband end-fed wire. Conditions on 10m are good.

UPDATE 1556z:   LA9JO (2096km) spotted me on 7MHz, for my best WSPR DX, so far, on that band.

2m big-wheel - 3dBd gain without rotating

Since its erection yesterday in its proper home by David G0LRD all seems to be working well.

A quick check this morning and I am able to copy the Kent, Dutch and Belgium beacons on 2m and GB3LEU (NW of Leicester) beacon on 70cm with the FT817 and 2m big-wheel. This is a single 2m big-wheel (not a stack) from Wimo in Germany.

It has 3dBd horizontal gain and is omni-directional.  It is an ideal SSB/CW/data antenna for casual operators like me. "Real" operators would use it and a beam:  the big-wheel to watch all 360 degrees and a big gainy beam to pounce in the choice direction. Being one who does not take the hobby too seriously just the big-wheel suits me and my style of operating! I did not look for other beacons. It is nice not having to worry about a beam and rotator.

I have still to try this antenna (and feeder) as an HF vertical via my ATU. It should work on at least some HF bands.

David G0LRD - thank you

Thanks to the kindness of G0LRD, David, who selflessly drove out to my home on a Sunday afternoon, I now have my 2m big-wheel installed in its proper permanent home. David was a complete stranger until today (although we'd briefly contacted on 2m) and I cannot thank him enough for his selfless kindness. The antenna works well on 2m (and even 70cm) and the whole installation looks great.

Years ago erecting this antenna would have been easy but at the moment I am just too wobbly. There are some very kind people in our hobby.

David - thank you.

Big-wheel disaster?

Overnight, my temporary mast for the big-wheel collapsed: it was simply resting against the guttering and blew over crushing one of the clover leaves. Hopefully, I can bend this element correctly again.  I shall do this shortly.

UPDATE 1414z:  Averted! I managed to straighten out the bent clover leaf, re-erect the antenna (briefly) and re-test. As far as I can tell, it is the same as before now.

70cm contest using a 2m big wheel

Stations worked on 70cm tonight with 5W and a 2m big-wheel omni

This evening was the September 70cm leg of the RSGB's UKAC contest, so I decided to give it a go with my 2m big-wheel and 5W SSB. The match on 70cms was very good, but I had no idea how it would actually work. Well, the answer is "very well" as you can see by the stations worked. Best DX was 182km. To say I was pleased is an under-statement!  I shall be able to use this antenna again in 70cm contests. I was also able to copy the new beacon NW of Leicester GB3LEU which was pretty good copy on 432.490MHz.

2m big wheel

2m big-wheel on its temporary mast

Overall, this antenna is giving me good service and "fits the bill" well for my kind of casual SSB operating. It will be interesting to see how it (the 2m big-wheel) does on 70cms tomorrow in the UKAC.  I start with poor expectations, but certainly hope to work the locals. Although the match is good on 70cms that does not mean the omni-directional gain is good on 70cms! When erected finally I may do a review as I am sure others would like to hear how it performs.

I wonder if anyone has modeled this antenna on 2m and 70cms?

All being well, a very kind local is installing this in its permanent location, clearing the roof and above the window on the LHS of the picture, on Sunday afternoon.

Big-wheel and 5W in the 2m Trophy Contest

Although my voice was poor I managed about an hour of operating in the 2m RSGB Trophy contest at the tail end of the event today. With the big-wheel on a temporary mast and 5W, I had 10 contacts with best DX being a QSO to near Cherburg (IO99pi) in northern France.  If I'd been able to stay on longer and my voice was not such hard work, I am pretty sure I'd have worked much more. An hour and my voice was screaming "help" and "stop". Life is so much harder now.

I also tried the 2m big-wheel on 70cms. The match is very good but I have no idea what the horizontal gain is on that band. I shall try this in the 70cm UKAC contest this Tuesday at 8pm UK clock time as  long as the pole does not blow down in the mean time!  At least I can get on 70cms "after a fashion". I don't think I shall bother with entering the contest today, but yet again it proves that a 2m big-wheel is well suited to my casual sort of operating.

2m Big Wheel

Steve G1KQH has requested that I blog this to say how it performs.

As my health is still not good I bought mine from Wimo in Germany, but with some aluminium tubing, some insulating material and a little skill, making your own should be straightforward. Being in the EC, imports from Germany already have VAT applied and there was no import duty. However the Wimo big-wheel, although well engineered, was not cheap. As purchased, it comes partly assembled for 2m but the 70cm version is sold ready made. The well packed antenna arrived from Wimo in Germany in about 7 days. There were instructions in German and English.

My 2m version had to have the elements attached. It is very easy to miss the screw holes and not assemble it correctly. There were no instructions for the mounting bracket, but this was straight forward enough. Overall, even with my poor health assembly took about 10 minutes

When first installed on my temporary mast my SWR (as indicated on the FT817) was rather high. Carefully bending the elements and adjusting the orientation of the matching stub brought this way down and I left it with 1-2 blobs showing on the FT817. The gain is claimed as around 3dBD horizontal.

In use it proved great: I worked all the stations I had previously worked on the halo (and others) with better reports in last night's 2m UKAC session. Best DX was 181km. In 52 minutes I worked 10 SSB stations. I was using 5W pep from the FT817. The antenna is fed with a length of RG213 (9mm diameter) coax. Not having to rotate the antenna is a great advantage. I received stations in Belgium and Holland, but did not work these in the short time I was "on air". I am sure that a lot more squares would have been worked had I stayed on for longer.  What was nice was being able to hear the activity all around and not having to turn the antenna at all. Ideally it should be used in conjunction with a beam, but the big-wheel suits my style of casual operating well.

Would I recommend a 2m big-wheel? Yes!

Thank you David

A near local has very kindly offered to erect my 2m big wheel.  I hate having to ask for help, as a few years ago this would have been trivial. These days I am just so grateful. It should mean I'll be back on 2m sometime in September.

2m/70cm beam down

After about a year of service, I have taken down my beam for 2m and 70cm which was not working as it did. In the near future I want to erect big-wheels instead. According to Wimo literature they have an omni pattern and a single big-wheel has a gain (horizontal) of 3dBD. Spacing between a 70cm big-wheel and a 2m big wheel needs to be 1.5m. This gain is a little down on the beam but needs no rotating. At the moment I think I'll install a single big-wheel for 2m and one for 70cm both fed with low loss coax on a single mast as high as I can. These should suit my operating fine. I monitor beacons and take part in some 2m and 70cm contests from home in a non-intensive way. A couple of big beams would be nice but these would need a rotator.

Small 2m beam or a pair of stacked big wheels?

At the moment I am enjoying 2m and 70cm horizontal using a small yagi with 3 elements on 2m and 5 elements on 70cm. Both sets of elements are on the same boom and fed with a single 17m length of Westflex low-loss coax. Last Tuesday was the first chance to try the beam in a 2m contest. Although I have still to try the beam in a 70cm contest, I am wondering about 2 stacked big-wheels just for 2m.

A pair of big wheels are reported to have a horizontal gain of around 5dBd, which is comparable to the gain of my 3el beam, but without the necessity to rotate the antenna. In a 2m UKAC contest this arrangement may well be better? With the beam I was constantly wanting to adjust the beam direction. On my little halo (and big-wheel) I'd  have no choice.

For now, I shall stick with the dual-band beam, but I would be interested to hear your views on big wheels as gainy 2m horizontal antennas. I could probably mount the big-wheels slightly higher too.

Unlike many, I am not so keen that I want huge beams and high power. My interests are beacon hunting and casual contesting. In the last UKAC 2m contest I ran 5W.