[NLRS] M Squared vs Directive Systems antennas

Fri, 4 Oct 2002 18:44:36 -0500

Jon, I believe that M2 and Directive Systems antennas are the best of both
worlds. In my opinion they're complementary product lines for the most part.
Most of the time M2 has the best "low" band antennas (6 - 0.7 meters) while
Directive Systems has the best "high" band antennas (i.e., microwave). There
are some special situations (such as roving) where other antennas may have
some advantage.

For 6 meters you need to first determine what your goals are and then pick
an antenna array to meet them. Many times a stacked pair of yagis will
outperform a single higher gain yagi. The effective antenna height and local
terrain are also considerations.
I have a single 6M2.5WL long yagi for 6 meters (50' boom length) while many
others do quite well (or better) with one or two of the shorter boom
lengths. Your tower, mast and rotor become important considerations as well
as proximity of other antennas on the same tower. Be careful as long boom(s)
can be "rotor eaters".

Construction, durability, wind and support are mostly in favor of M2 for low
band antennas. I currently have 9 of them in my antenna stack. Mike and his
team at M2 are top notch and want you to succeed with your operations. They
shake down most of their new designs on tough Expeditions before they go to
market and then continue to improve the designs over time. There is a fine
trade-off between windload and element flexibility that M2 has mastered.
http://www.m2inc.com/

With regard to 6 meters, I'd suggest you start with a good 5 element beam
such as the 6M5X unless you want to go for the 6M7JHV from the start. I
wouldn't recommend anything longer then a 30' boom length for starters
however (unless your tower and rotor will take the additional load).
With antennas, you truly get what you pay for. I regret starting with the
lower cost Cushcraft antennas only to replace all of them within a few
years. I usually get the best prices on M2 antennas from Burghardt in
Watertown, SD
http://www.burghardt-amateur.com/Burghardt/HTML/main_frame.html although SSB
http://www.ssbusa.com/ordering.html#M2ANTENNAS also has aggressive pricing
on some models. It pays to shop around.

With regards to 902 - 10 GHz, I shop at Directive Systems. Dave does a great
job with these antennas and I'm very satisfied with the 14 that I'm using in
my arrays.  However, these are more delicate antennas (due to the higher
frequencies involved) so they need a lot of TL&C.
http://www.directivesystems.com/

You may want to also consider scratch building an antenna now and then.
There are many good designs posted on the internet and some of the antenna
modeling tools are relatively easy to use. You get a better feel for M2 and
Directive Systems antenna kits by having rolled your own now and then.

There is much to learn (from others experience and your own mistakes) with
antennas. I don't know of any ham who is truly satisfied with their current
stack. In my case, I have a lot of improvements to make; some of which are
taking more time then I could have imagined.

I hope these comments helped. E-mail if you have any questions.

73, Jim, K0MHC
EN26ha
http://www.k5rmg.org/k0mhc.html

----- Original Message -----
From: Jonathan Fox <[email protected]>
To: NLRS Reflector <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, October 04, 2002 1:44 PM
Subject: [NLRS] M Squared vs Directive Systems antennas

> I am going to buy a 6 meter beam for the tower and I have narrowed my
> choices to the M2 6M5X and the Directive Systems K1FO DS50-5.  I am
> also looking for a 222 beam and again it would probably be either an
> M2 or Directive Systems.   I have never seen any of the Directive
> Systems antennas.  Are they similar in construction to the M2?  Are
> they strong enough to withstand Minnesota Weather?   Should I just buy
> the M2 and not look at others?
>
>
> Thank You
>
> 73, Jon
> W0AMT
>
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