After the ARRL June VHF contest, I realized that I needed a better 2 meter antenna than the Diamond yagis that I’d been using.
Nothing at all against the Diamond, as it has worked very well in any application I’ve tried, from satellites to VHF contests. However, its lightweight tubular aluminum construction for the elements is prone to bending and when bent back into shape, breaking in two. That’s not much of an issue when it’s mounted on a permanent structure, but when roving it’s put it up, take it down several times during the weekend. That causes bending, and breaking.
The replacement, just in time for the CQ WW VHF Contest next weekend, is the Directive Systems DSE144-6RS. With an 8 foot boom, it’s just the right size to fit on the roof of my SUV for transport and works great on the fiberglass push-up mast.
I also ordered it with the Quick Release Boom-to-Mast Plate that is absolutely fabulous. Pull the pin, move the boom a few degrees, and the antenna is in your hand, ready for transport to the next grid. I love this thing.
It has also been a delight to work with Terry Price at Directive Systems. They only take orders by phone and I’m glad that’s the case. In discussing my set up with him, he combined the quick release plate and antenna to save me a few bucks on the overall order. He also set up the mast mount to take into account my 1 inch mast size. He shipped it promptly and has been very responsive.
I assembled the yagi in one day. I had been somewhat concerned about the keepers that are pressed on over the elements. But they worked well and will certainly stay in place.
The next day I put the antenna up on the mast and tweaked on the delta match to make sure the SWR was set right. After a bit of fiddling with a Red Dot Wattmeter that wasn’t giving me the right readings, I went to the IC-9100’s internal SWR meter. It’s now set for a 1.0 match from 144 to 145 with just a slight uptick to 1.2 at 145.
I’m really looking forward to putting this antenna into play for the CQ WW VHF Contest.
Jim What mast do you use ?
I use the MK-4 Heavy Duty fiberglass push up mast from Max-Gain Systems. Here’s the link https://mgs4u.com/product/mk-4-series-25ft-masts/