HYS Yagi antenna

[WRUB458]

Thoughts on this antenna for my Wouxun 1000…..

[WRQL315]

I use one of these antennas and in my area, it is the only way I can hit some local repeaters, so it does make a difference.  Just keep in mind that it is directional.  I can hit some close by repeaters from the back side of the antenna but I can also hit those repeaters from a hand held.

[WRUB458]

Ok sounds good. Do they have to be grounded or anything? I may give a try….

[SteveShannon]

32 minutes ago, WRUB458 said:

Ok sounds good. Do they have to be grounded or anything? I may give a try….

All masts should be grounded and all fixed location antennas should be connected through a lightning arrester where they pass into the house. A lightning arrester grounds the shield of the coax and also helps protect the radio from static electricity buildup. 

[WRUB458]

Hello there! Ok I’ll keep that in mind when I set up! Thanks 

[Borage257]

5 hours ago, Sshannon said:

All masts should be grounded and all fixed location antennas should be connected through a lightning arrester where they pass into the house. A lightning arrester grounds the shield of the coax and also helps protect the radio from static electricity buildup. 

What are the best practices for grounding? If I have an antenna on a fiberglass pole how do I ground it?

[axorlov]

26 minutes ago, Borage257 said:

What are the best practices for grounding? If I have an antenna on a fiberglass pole how do I ground it?

In this case you should at least ground the shield of the coax before it enters the house. This would be a minimum requirement, because your antenna will accumulate static charge just from the wind, no lightning necessary. Give static a path to the ground other than through your radio. Bulkhead N or PL-type connectors can be used at the bottom of your mast or at the entry point into the house.

Better solution is to use lightning arrester certified for 500MHz, as mentioned above, and a proper grounding wire and a dedicated grounding rod near the mast, bonded with the house grounding rod by #6 or bigger wire. This method is according to the code. I myself do have rod for the mast, bonded with the house ground by #4 wire, but I only ground the shield of the coax. Where I live, lightnings happen once in 10 years.

[WRUB458]

Is this good?

 

[SteveShannon]

 

[mrobisr]

Question for you tech experts, could I mount a directional and omnidirectional antenna on the same mast by using the Diamond Antenna CX210A Wideband Heavy Duty Coax Switch?

[SteveShannon]

4 hours ago, mrobisr said:

Question for you tech experts, could I mount a directional and omnidirectional antenna on the same mast by using the Diamond Antenna CX210A Wideband Heavy Duty Coax Switch?

Sure.

[mrobisr]

53 minutes ago, Sshannon said:

Sure.

Thanks for the reply, do I need to space the antennas any certain distance apart?

[SteveShannon]

46 minutes ago, mrobisr said:

Thanks for the reply, do I need to space the antennas any certain distance apart?

Since you’re using them with a switch you’re intending to use one at a time. 
Just keep them one wavelength apart vertically and you probably won’t have any detectable effects. Try it. 

[WRWE456]

That is the set up I am currently using. Just got it up and running a couple of weeks ago. Still working on the grounding side of it.

I have a galvanized steel mast made of 1 1/4" EMT conduit. The antenna's are an "Arrow Antenna's" brand GMRS 7 element Yagi. Very nicely built antenna. Much beefier mount than the one on amazon (but costs twice as much). It is mounted about 3' below the top of the mast. At the top I am running a copper tube J-pole GMRS antenna by KB9VBR. I run DX engineering brand 400 Max coax with N connectors from each antenna to a 2 position Diamond antenna switch. The interesting thing is just how well the Yagi works even in directions other than where it is pointed. Now I have not had this setup very long so still learning how it works. Most of the time there is no noticeable difference but once in a while the Yagi will pick up a signal that is too weak to hear on the J-pole. I have to assume that those signals are in the general direction that the Yagi is pointing. Now for my situation most of the stuff I want to reach is in one general direction so I don't need a rotator and the J-pole will cover anything local in all directions. I am situated on top of a 500 foot hill facing the direction that I mainly need to work so it really is ideal for me. 

[mrobisr]

8 hours ago, WRWE456 said:

That is the set up I am currently using. Just got it up and running a couple of weeks ago. Still working on the grounding side of it.

I have a galvanized steel mast made of 1 1/4" EMT conduit. The antenna's are an "Arrow Antenna's" brand GMRS 7 element Yagi. Very nicely built antenna. Much beefier mount than the one on amazon (but costs twice as much). It is mounted about 3' below the top of the mast. At the top I am running a copper tube J-pole GMRS antenna by KB9VBR. I run DX engineering brand 400 Max coax with N connectors from each antenna to a 2 position Diamond antenna switch. The interesting thing is just how well the Yagi works even in directions other than where it is pointed. Now I have not had this setup very long so still learning how it works. Most of the time there is no noticeable difference but once in a while the Yagi will pick up a signal that is too weak to hear on the J-pole. I have to assume that those signals are in the general direction that the Yagi is pointing. Now for my situation most of the stuff I want to reach is in one general direction so I don't need a rotator and the J-pole will cover anything local in all directions. I am situated on top of a 500 foot hill facing the direction that I mainly need to work so it really is ideal for me. 

I have a rotor on my tv antenna and it works like a champ, so it is already on my mind but I will manually move it and see how well it works before going to the next level.