Ordering a second 2m antenna coupler for four yagis seemed to be an easy task…But the first supplier promised to deliver, but finally could not deliver on time, other suppliers had none on stock. Finally we found a source for a second one, and Chris, DK2CRN, fetched it this evening. So now we are able to set up two 4×9el vertically stacked yagis in the upcoming September contest.

For the first time, DR5A will use two separate turnable 4×9el antenna groups in September contest, effectively putting our old F9FT 9el antennas to good use. We will transmit on both antennas, and receive on one of them (selectable by foot switch). Receiving on both simultanously poses a too big risk of catching all that nasty QRM in September. Most likely one antenna will be devoted to G and F only, while the other is for QTF 0-180.

To give our signals on 23 and 13cm some more punch, we will use a new dish starting October 2006, going from 1.2m diameter to a whopping 2m. The below picture shows that new monster beside his proud owner Alfred, DK3OS, during the first assembly. We are very excited about that new toy and are curious what we can achieve with it in the October UHF/SHF/Microwave-Contest.

After inspecting the different candidates for our new 2m antennas, we decided to stick to Tonna, but replace the portable version of the 9el with the more robust non-portable version. Our yagis served us very well for so many years that we feel that Tonna is providing good value for our money in the future, too. We will start using the new antennas in september contest.

After using Tonna’s portable version of the 9 element yagi on 2m for some years now, we realized that these antennas are suffering from permanent assembly and disassembly. We are going to use the upcoming HAM RADIO fair in Friedrichshafen to buy 4 new comparable yagis to replace the old ones. We are still not decided if we prefer 9el Tonna (non-portable), or the 7el WiMo DK7ZB-Design, or the 7el from DX-SR. It will mostly depend on the mechanical stability, as the dimensions and the gain of the antenna models in question are very similar. This decision will not be easy :-).