You may recall that I’ve had great results with the Par Electronics 6 meter Stressed Moxon. I really like how it is constructed, how it works, and the price. When my IC-910H arrived, I gave some thought to setting up 2 meter and 70 cm dipoles but quickly realized I needed an antenna analyzer to do the job right. So, instead, I ordered the 2 m and 70 cm Omniangles. Then the cascade of updates started.
For the 2 meter antenna I was able to use the cable run that I’d established for a 6 meter dipole I had in the attic. I removed it and installed the 2 Omniangle antennas. You can see in the photos below that I used a wooden closet pole as the mast and mounted the 2 meter and 70 cm Omniangles on it. Given this, I was able to get on 2 meters fairly quickly.
The 70 cm connection required that I step up to using N-type connectors, everything else in the shack uses UHF connectors. So I picked up some easy screw on and solder type connectors on eBay along with bulkhead connectors that I needed for my homebrew window feed through board.
Unfortunately, I could only find 1.75″ bulkhead connectors instead of the 2″ lengths I’d used with the UHF bulkhead connectors. Undeterred, I did some crude countersinking in the wooden feed through board. You can see the photos below of my handiwork. I went ahead and installed two so that I’d be ready to route cables to an upcoming yagi antenna update for both 2 meters and 70 cm.
The Omniangles have been working well. I’ve checked into a few local 2 meter SSB nets and worked a guy in Houston. This past weekend I was able to get on the ARRL UHF contest and work a few local contacts on 70 cm.
I like them. They work well for my early efforts on these two new bands.
[…] first use of the Par Electronics Omniangles was on two meters and 70 cm. They worked great to get me started on those higher bands, plus they […]