[Rover] Moxon antenna performance

Sun, 28 Jul 2002 17:46:05 -0700

Hi Jacob,

The Moxon works very well on 6 meters.  The forward gain compares well with
a standard 2 element yagi, but it has a wider pattern and a very sharp null
off the back.  L.B.Cebik,W4RNL, has loads of info on the Moxon on his web
page, http://www.cebik.com .  He also done an article in QST about a year or
so ago.  I believe he included in his article, and on his web site, a
program called moxgen.bas that will scale the Moxon to any frequency you
want.

The beauty of using the Moxon for a Rover antenna is it's quite a bit
smaller than a standard 2 element yagi.  I built one out of 1/2" tubing, and
I believe the width of the antenna was right around 7 feet.

I also built a prototype for 2 meters, which seemed to work well, but I
haven't used it much.  The 2 meter version is small enough that it should be
a reasonable substitute for an omni loop.  I haven't used it much because
out here in 9 land I need a lot more gain from a 2 meter antenna.  Out east,
or from a nice mountain top, your mileage may vary.

I don't think stacking them would work out vary well.  For me, the biggest
advantage of the Moxon is it's compact size.  Adding a second antenna would
defeat that advantage, and for only a modest amount of additional gain.  I
think you would likely be a lot better off going to a full size 3 or 4
element yagi in this case.  A lot less trouble, and  likely more forward
gain as well.  Of course, I've never tried it, so this is pure speculation
on my part.

Good luck with your antenna work, and sorry to hear about your quad.  I've
often considered trying to build a "Rover proof" 2 element quad.  Although
aside from durability another disadvantage of the quad is the vertical
height makes it tough to stack other antennas on the same mast.  I may yet
give one a try someday though.  Configured as a diamond, a quad is also
considerably more narrow than a normal yagi.

73
Dan

Dan Evans N9RLA
Scottsburg, IN 47170
{EM78}
IN-Ham list administrator
QRP-l #1269
1/2 of the N9RLA /R no budget Rover Team
Check out the Rover Resource Page at:
http://www.qsl.net/n9rla

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jacob Tennant" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, July 28, 2002 3:10 PM
Subject: [Rover] Moxon antenna performance