VE7BQH 6m Antenna Comparison Table

Over the last quarter century, antenna performance has improved dramatically. Thanks to the development of computer modeling software, antennas can now be designed  to provide excellent results. Many older antennas are still in use around the world that were built using less sophisticated techniques. A number of 6m  operators have  wondered if it is time to upgrade their antenna systems.

There is no question that each operator has different interests and constraints. Some want to arrange various antennas to "fill in the nulls" in ground gain patterns so they  can be assured of not missing signals coming in at certain angles. Others want to increase maximum signal strengths while still fitting the antenna in their garden. And  still others are interested in assembling an antenna system that will have enough free space gain to enable them to complete EME contacts while the antenna is elevated  (without any ground gain). With the differences in how antennas are marketed and what pecifications are published, it is no wonder that many hams have expressed confusion when they try to compare antennas to determine what would be the best choice for their particular situations.

Lionel Edwards, VE7BQH, is well known for his pioneering work in EME and his knowledge of antenna design. His comparison table of 2m antenna designs has been a  valuable resource for weak signal enthusiasts on that band. The recent increase in larger antennas for this band, along with the growth of interest in 6m EME, has resulted in many requests for such a table.  Lionel now has generously put together a table comparing a number of popular 6m antennas to help guide  Magic Band operators on antenna decisions. This table was painstakingly prepared to include the free space gain of each yagi with respect to a dipole, the optimum  and 75% of optimum stacking distances for both two and four yagis and resulting gain figures, and the SWR of a single antenna 150 kHz from the design frequency. The SWR value provides an indicator of the "Q" of the antenna, and how likely it is to be affected by rain, ice and snow; the narrower the bandwidth of the antenna, the more susceptible it is to such detuning by the weather. Please join with me in thanking Lionel for graciously agreeing to undertake the very laborious challenge of preparing  such a table.

The purpose of the above table is to provide comparison information for 6m operators selecting antennas, and stacking information for experienced weak signal operators interested in constructing antenna arrays to maximize gain.  VE7BQH does not have the time or interest to design custom antennas for individuals.  That is why I have provided some links below to more information about some of the antennas included in the comparison table.  For many people, the best value is to purchase a commercial antenna already constructed with hard-to-find materials.

If you are interested in constructing your own custom antenna from scratch, there are many excellent articles on the internet, along with sources of materials convenient for you.  For example, Texas Towers provides telscoping tubing for antenna projects, your local hardware store provides HDPE kitchen cutting boards (for insulated mounting plates, as required in all the YU7EF designs), and McMaster-Carr provides all sorts of bolts and fasteners of different type materials.  If you are looking for materials to build a split dipole driven element, simply pick up some nylon, fiberglass or HDPE at your local hardware store or plastics distributor and insert into the two halves of the dipole on an insulated mounting block.  If you don't have a local hardware store or plastics distributor, you can mail order many sizes of insulating rod materials from McMaster-Carr or Small Parts. You can certainly find more examples of suppliers and photographs of what others have done by simple searches on the internet.  Just remember that any metal plates for attaching the elements, or changes in the diameter of the elements, will require that the element lengths be modified correctly.  If you do not have the experience and references on how to do this, you should not strike off on your own -  If you are duplicating any high performance antenna you should exactly follow the instructions provided by the designer.

The antenna is the most important part of your station - pay it the attention it deserves!  If you are on a limited budget, it is far better to invest your money in a high performance antenna and low loss feedline, than on an expensive radio.  Good luck and DX!