Antenna Pl2 ,Maco m103 or superhawk Quad

[223mike]

I dont know that much about antennas, but i want a small beam, I have been looking at the PDL2 , Maco m103 and the signal enginering superhawk now called the l2 made by lightning. I have one of the the old Sp 500 up now, it will stay up.and i want to add a small beam or quad. please help so i get the best one. Thanks................

[patscavalier]

i have been looking at this beam
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[223mike]

Thank you for the help, Parte Scavalier

[231]

I dont know that much about antennas, but i want a small beam, I have been looking at the PDL2 , Maco m103 and the signal enginering superhawk now called the l2 made by lightning. I have one of the the old Sp 500 up now, it will stay up.and i want to add a small beam or quad. please help so i get the best one. Thanks................

Hi Mike,

Tough choices. Many here run the 3 element yagi and place their vertical omni on top which works well for them. Myself, I prefer dual polarity if I can get it. As you know both quads you've mention have dual polarity. What's really nice is having the ground plane up simply for spotting, listening, and the rare occasion when you are in the middle of folks. That's what I always did. I had a vertical up too (even if it was just the A99 on a 10' pole). I used the beam almost exclusively for my QSO's. Out of the 3 you've listed I'd choose the L2.

The previous poster mentioned the Moxon. If you are after a better than average 'back door' (rejection) that is the beam to build (or buy). You can find a free calculating tool to build your own at the moxonantennaproject.com . That's what I built my dual polarity Moxon with...and man that little beam did a super job! I had 40 db F/B and 25-30 db F/S which for a small beam like that rocks! However, it's forward gain is lacking. That's not to say you couldn't add elements though. I built mine out of copper tubing by the way. With it's 50 ohm impedance, no matching network is needed (unlike the quads and yagi's). However, the forward gain of the quad would still be a leg up on the Moxon. Therefore I'd still choose the L2 over even this...especially if I wasn't concerned about having the best rejection I could get.

But it really boils down to what you want. You must view this as this is not likely the last beam you'll ever own. Why? Because it's not. Once you are bit with owning a beam (and get it in the air!) it's hard to settle for an omni again. At least it was for me.

Best of luck in whatever you decide.
231

[223mike]

Admin I thing iam going to get a Siro-4, Its a 4 Element beam 14 pounds , going to use a good TV rotor with a upper support bearing . The beam $159.00 and with keeping SP500 up at 40 foot and the beam at 55 foot. That might just be the best of both worlds. Admin thanks for taking time to help................................

[MDYoungblood]

A 4 element beam is a lot of wind load for a small TV rotor.

3's

Greg

[223mike]

I will have a support bearing above thr rotor. Thanks for taking time to help...........