New VHF/UHF log periodic

If you have plenty of money, you may want to consider the new log-periodic from InnovAntennas at just under £200. Personally, I think this is expensive, although others may disagree. Each to their own. I know they have to recover development and manufacturing costs, but just under £200 for some aluminium?

See http://www.innovantennas.com/antennas-a-accesories/on-line-shop/view/productdetails/virtuemart_product_id/469/virtuemart_category_id/75.html

See also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium

MFJ and InnovAntenna partnership

More from Southgate News. InnovAntenna is teaming with MFJ to make and sell the InnovAntennas in the USA.

See http://southgatearc.org/news/2017/january/mfj-in-partnership-with-innovantennas-and-g0ksc.htm#.WG2CbIXXLIU

I think this makes sense. However expect more companies to "join forces" in the years ahead. By combining resources they have a better chance of synergy and success. Times are going to get much tougher in the years ahead as the amateur population ages and less is bought. We can expect fewer dealers in years ahead.

VHF yagis - amazingly high prices

Just browsing the Waters and Stanton website and I noticed some nice yagis for 2m. Rather larger than I could ever consider as the one I was viewing would stretch over my garden and the next two, HI.

.......and then I saw the price.

The 22-element yagi from InnovAntennas (see 22-LFA2-144 22 element 144MHz LFA2 Yagi 3kW (17.001m long) 18.55dBi gain) is a whopping £605.95 !!!   Probably delivery is not included either. 

Of course, if you want a moonbounce station you may have to buy several of these big yagis, phasing harnesses and booms, plus a large AS-EL rotator, a big tower, low loss cable ....and an expensive rig. This soon looks like a hobby for the seriously rich only.

Now I've no doubt whatsoever this is an excellent antenna that is well designed and optimised, but it is just 20 odd pieces of aluminium, plus a few insulators, nuts and bolts in the last analysis.  OK design costs have to be recovered, but the mark-up is a conservative ten times, if not more, on the raw material prices. Is this justified?

We are all different and I am not judging what others should do with their hard earned cash, but it's just not amateur radio (in my view, others will disagree) when you have to pay silly money for rigs, antennas and accessories.

Rotatable dipole or HF halo?

DES Rotating Dipole

A new antenna is being advertised by InnovAntennas: a compact rotatable 15, 10 and 6m dipole with droopy ends so that the overall length is no greater than a single 10m dipole. It is called the DES-Rotating Dipole. The image on the right (from the InnovAntenna website)  shows the neat arrangement which can be fed directly from 50ohms. Without lossy traps the power rating is at least 5kW, rather more than I would ever need.

Now, neat though this is, I question whether it is really worth the expense. At this stage I have no idea of price but I would expect somewhere between £50-100? My simple Homebase-10 wire halo is MUCH smaller because the 10m dipole is arranged in a square. A 6m halo can be nested inside very easily and fed with the same coax. To add a 15m halo would only increase the size by 50%. Unlike the Cobweb antenna, my simple design could be assembled as a 3 band version for less than £15 with all new parts.

Homebase-10 10m halo

How much down is the halo compared with the nested dipole?  In most directions, apart from a tiny segment in the direction where the ends of the halo meet, less than 2dB. What is that in S-points? Hardly noticeable at all at about 1/3 of 1 S-point.

A dipole, if rotated, does have the advantage of being able to null out interference but I am not sure this is such a benefit. For me, it is either something like a horizontal halo which tends to be a "quiet" antenna picking up little local (vertically polarised) man-made interference or a small beam which would have some gain and directivity. However, the latter will only add about 0.5-1 S-point in signal level and, time you buy a decent rotator and the beam, you will have paid 10-15 times more for the privilege. A beam does add directivity and interference rejection, but is much larger. For me it is a "no brainer".  My simple little halo has allowed me to get QRP reports on SSB, CW and WSPR from all over the world. It is simple and works well.