Sidebar Sidebar
  • You can now help support WorldwideDX when you shop on Amazon at no additional cost to you! Simply follow this Shop on Amazon link first and a portion of any purchase is sent to WorldwideDX to help with site costs.
  • Click here to find out how to win free radios from Retevis!

small or "mini" beams?

rangelia

rangelia

Member
Aug 16, 2018
33
13
18
50
I was wanting to make a cubical quad beam antenna to use as a "base" antenna. After looking at pics and tutorials for a few days I finally made it to the calculator part of it. I had no Idea they were that big. If I did it right, I think the squares would be like 9'x6' . Is there a mini version of a directional antenna? At the cost of a little performance I wouldn't mind scaling it down.
 

Im gonna have to DIY it for money reasons, but Im not dead set on a quad. just something that might be a little smaller . What is the smallest a "directional" can be? I don't neeeeed a beam, but one would be cool if I can scale it down smaller than a VW bus.
 
Less than full sized means less performance and if scaled down too far you are better off with a different antenna. Physics is physics and there is no getting around it. If you think you can save money acquiring the materials and putting it all together and tuned properly especially if it is reduced sized then you better have a GOOD supply of materials in the back yard already otherwise a cheap 3 element yagi is the way to go. Also remember that ANY beam will require a rotator so that is another expense to consider. A Moxon is light and smaller in size however it has slightly LESS gain than a 3 element yagi. they are cheap to build however but you still need arotator to take advantage of the directional characteristics.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 928bolo, rangelia and Shadetree Mechanic
Thanks for the replies. When its all said and done I may end up just buying one but Id like to try to build something first. Like I said, I may not even "need" a directional, that's why Im asking. To me their cool I guess. As far as performance,,,, man, Im in my truck in the driveway barefootin it. anything more is a step up the ladder! HAHAHAHAHA . As far as rotating it, Ill spin it on a pole with a compass. Im talkin ghetto. Just wanting to kill some time and get out further than 9 miles. Thanks for the suggestions in name brands. Ill check them out just in case.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Riverman
Iv looked at those and was going to ask about them. didn't know if they would be good for 11m?
 
Ill look for some DIY's in a bit and see fi I can figure out how to calculate something like that.
 

dxChat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.


      Top Bottom
      Back