Dale (Slim) Haines G4IPZ works DX with his crutch antenna
Hi Derek.
I had to drop you a quick line to say how amazed I have been since building my own version of your simple 3 element yagi.
I built it primarily for VHFCC and similar portable work after having used halos and HB9CVs for a while.
I quite literally threw it together last week out of a load of odds and s*ds, even making the boom out of an old NHS crutch (of which I have several)
When I first tried it I thought the swr meter had gone faulty as there was virtually no visible reflected power.
And then when I used it at my /P location (JO01AG) during yesterday's 2m VHFCC contest it enabled me to work into Holland, France and Belgium using about 50 watts and getting very nice reports back.
It also got me a 534Km contact with MM0GPZ/P.
The front to back ratio is superb and whilst not having the technology to do any actual measurements, working with it literally "in the field" it proved amazing.
My home qth is, to say the least, attrocious with regards to VHF propagation but I am going to 'knock up' another one and give it a try in place of my trusty (but rusty) old HB9CVs.
Thanks a lot for the design and I am going to have to try the 6m design next I think, even though my 1/2 G5RV has allowed me to work into most of europe with about 30 watts.
Many thanks
Dale (Slim) Haines G4IPZ
