The past few days have been dedicated to building and setting up an Antennas-Amplifiers Dual Band 6m2m14DX-2C. I was searching for something that would fit nicely on top of a push-up mast and minimize wind exposure while offering a similar gain to my current antennas.

Small Yard Location

We cut down a large tree in the southeast corner of our yard. Subsequently, I moved my pushup mast and antennas to that corner, making them much more visible to my neighbors and the March winds.

You may also recall that I’ve implemented the Antennas-Amplifiers Dual Band 2m/70cm Yagi for my portable contest operations. It works great for a very specific application in my portable setup, so I thought I’d like something similar for my backyard installation.

Antenna Shipment and Assembly

The package measures 58 inches, slightly longer than the optimum shipping size of 48 inches. This increased the freight cost, but it’s still not too bad. The antenna price was 299 euros; shipping was 125 euros, and a 24-euro PayPal charge.

I bought the antenna on March 17. It was shipped on March 19 and delivered on March 25. It was well-packaged and arrived in excellent condition.

It went together nicely with solid mounts and a sturdy boom. I was somewhat surprised by the boom’s strength and weight. Even so, at 14 feet long and weighing 14.5 lbs, the antenna is about 5 pounds lighter than my previous two antennas. Additionally, it occupies only one position on the mast, which reduces wind loading.

I faced some challenges with the boom-to-mast clamp for my small push-up mast. However, I made adjustments with shims and mounted it lower on the 1.25” section of the mast. This creates a very solid mount, and the guy lines support it well in the March winds here in Texas.

Assembly and Mounting Time

I should have informed everyone that I would be taking down my antenna on Thursday, 27 March, because that’s when 6 meters went wild. Many stations were coming in, including FY5KE on CW, and I heard some people calling ZS stations. I was listening on my Par Electronics OmniAngle in the attic. I couldn’t work anyone, but I could definitely tell there was action happening.

I devoted Thursday, Friday, and Saturday mornings to the project. Assembly occupied Thursday and a little of Friday. Then, on Saturday, I focused on getting it mounted on the mast.

Specifications and Performance

The antenna features five elements for six meters on the bottom of the boom and nine elements for two meters on the top of the boom. It offers separate N connectors and baluns for each band. The specified gain is 10.2 dBi on six meters, matching my current 5-element Directive Systems Yagi, and 13.2 dBi on two meters, just one dBi less than my M2 9-element Yagi. It enhances the front-to-back ratio (20 to 27 dB) on two meters and provides 26 versus 25 dB on six meters.

So far, I’ve worked a fair bit of TEP into Argentina and Chile with some stations in Ecuador as well. I’ve also heard E51BQ in the South Cook Islands. I did miss the big opening mentioned above, but I’m hopeful there will be other opportunities soon.

I’m looking forward to the Sporadic E season here in the USA. I hope to work the last three grids I need for the Fred Fish Memorial Award. Wish me luck.