The photos alone are a worthwhile addition to the amateur bookshelf, since they provide a perspective on amateur antenna construction that we rarely see. May 20, 2015 ive built both balanced and unbalanced loop antennas. However, most of what is great about the lightning bolt quad applies to just about any well built quad antenna. Feb 25, 2012 basics of building hfvhf cubical quad antennas. Horizontal or vertical polarization of an cubical quadantenna is determined by placement of the feed point feed gap on the driven element parasitic elements need to. Years ago i built the spider out of pipe and angle iron but never got the material for the spreaders. Antennas con tinue to satisfy many a hams desire to build a part of their stations equipment, and homemade antennas can compete with commercial ones. Indeed, he subtitles his latest volume with just those words. The quad reflector assures low angle of radiation even at. If your station is located on the fringe of the repeaters coverage area, youve come to the right place. High performance cubical quad antennas 3rd edition by john koszeghy, k3bb. Ive built both balanced and unbalanced loop antennas. Therefore you must use an atu for operating this antenna. As with many antennas the level of gain for the cubical quad beam antenna is an important factor of its overall performance.
What is a quadlock the quadlock is a device that will let you tilt your tower all the way to the ground to work on your cubical quad antenna, rotator, or tower. This wellknown classic on quad theory, design, constructi. Save products on your wishlist to buy them later or share with your friends. The characteristic impedance of a loop depends on its shape. Vhfuhf quad antenna the information in this article has come from many amateur sources, the most notable was from wa6tey sk 1985 ray frost, who was a pioneer of vhf quad designs and one of the best southern california transmitter hunters of the 1980s. The basic cubical quad driven element on its own has a gain of about 2db over a dipole because it is essentially a pair of stacked dipoles.
If youre looking to purchase a cubical quad antenna, youve come to the right place. Quad 2e11 gain 7 dbd frontrear 33 db frontback 31 db gamma match so239 50 ohm swr 1. This means high levels of suppression to both the sides and the rear of the antenna can be achieved. Cubical quad antenna antennas radios amplifiers baluns. According to bob heil in his book, heil ham radio handbook, there were articles in qst and cq magazine showing how to build a 10 meter quad. The quad is mounted on a 30foot boom in a diamond configuration and was originally installed using the dimensions given in a previous qst article 1 and in use by a number of hams. I emphasize once more, that if you use insulated wire, or bare copper, different to what i have used, the above measurements. Other useful information would include your experience with similar products, infomation on a product that you would purchase instead of this one, and so on. The hf quad antenna works very well at a low height. The biggest compromise with a 2element quad is in terms of boom length element spacing.
All about cubical quad antennas out of printlimited availability. Quad antenna javascript calculator for cb and amateur. They have lots of info on quads and they also make fine antennas. It works by letting the quad loops swivel out of the way. Inspired by an antique bookcase from a london library, our reproduction echoes the beauty and restraint of neoclassicism. Hf vhf uhf antennas for ham radio cb military commercial using. His support is important as hardware sold in some stores as stainless rusts in a few months. Na7us cubex 5band quad after many years of using a modified lightning bolt quad for 201510 meters, i upgraded to a cubex 5bander. Quad antenna design having successfully operated for many years with various types of three element beams, mainly for convenience, i decided to try and build a two element three band cubical quad. It is used by radio amateurs on the hf and vhf amateur bands. Since its first introduction in the 1940s, the quad. When we launched our dxantenna project in the summer of 1987.
A quad antenna is a type of directional wire radio antenna used on the hf and vhf bands. If you are interested in a quad, check out the cubex quad website. A fiveelement quad antenna for 2 meters by jim reynante, kd6glfpo box 27856san diego, ca 92198. So, the purpose of sharing this information has become somewhat moot. Its coinductive secret was that it used a folded dipole to feed the quad. Quad are been joined toghether so to strengthen the whole system, the mart boom lenght supporting elements originally was 33 feet, it has been lengthened to 47 feet, due to the necessity of guying 40m. The maco vquad is a directionalcombined verticalhorizontal polarization plus high gain of 11 db makes the vquad an ideal inexpensive beam for. The quad reflector assures low angle of radiation even at low heights for real long distance performance. Pkw antenna system hf vhf uhf antennas for ham radio cb military commercial using. The swiss quad antenna at zs6pp, september 1967 qst rf cafe. I added late 1998, 2 elements cubical quad full size for 40m. This gave the antenna more gain than a simple quad. Any cubical quad owner who has ever put one up properly and tuned it, never would complain about its performance. In early december, 2005 i learned that lightning bolt antennas has gone out of business after 17 years.
Embed embed for hosted blogs and item cubical quad beam antenna gain. Enter center frequency to be calculated for a quad. When the tower is in the operational position the elements are locked into position. All about cubical quad antennas the famous handbook on quad theory, design, construction and operation. On 903, 1296, 2304, and 3456mhz, the loops are mounted in electrical contact with the boom, unbalancing them. The quad uses a single, centralfed frame with a feederline. The statement often made is a single quad element has 2 db gain over a dipole, and that 2 db gain difference carries over into arrays of quad elements. Many months were spent searching for the best model dimensions shown in various antenna handbooks, and information found on the internet. The top countries of suppliers are china, hong kong s. Enter your mobile number or email address below and well send you a link to download the free kindle app. Qtenna boomless quad hubs and quad hardware boomless quad hubs and quad hardware by steve narducci, w9sn. This antenna does not need a 75 ohm transformer as quads do at lower frequencies. Hf quad antenna manufacturers category is a curation of 15 web resources on, rquad antennas, t. All about cubical quad antennas by william i orr, stuart d.
On 10 and 15 meters, the dual band quad i built in 1979 had the feedpoint hanging in the air. Radiowavz manufacturers of many wire antennas, including hex antennas that cover 40 meters. There are no shortage of old school yagi guys who will come up with some arcane nonsense as to why a quad isnt that good, and that would be because they never had one. Describe your experience with the quad antennas by rquad and tell us why you give it the rating you did required.
Any length of a good quality rg58x will suffice as the primary feedline. A fiveelement quad antenna for 2 meters by jim reynante, kd6glfpo box 27856san diego, ca 92198 if your station is located on the fringe of the repeaters coverage area. John koszeghy, k3bb exk2ob has had a love affair with quad beams for 45 years. It is stored in the garage with hopes of some day actually getting it in the air. Very quick shipping from georges who is very kind to think about us, cbers. After many years of using a modified lightning bolt quad for 201510 meters, i upgraded to a cubex 5bander. Since a loop radiates broadside, concentric elements are not in each others way. After 10 years my quad needed some extra fixtures and roger volunteered to send them in. I like to combine the vhf and field day events with camping so my antennas need to be portable. Find cubical quad hf antennas related suppliers, manufacturers, products and specifications on globalspec a trusted source of cubical quad hf antennas information. If you want to use it between 144mhz and 146mhz enter 145 in the mhz box.
Antenna, ve3sqb ham radio antenna design software programs. Youll love the skye quad cube bookcase at wayfair great deals on all furniture products with free shipping on most stuff, even the big stuff. High performance cubical quad antennas 3rd edition by. However the cubical quad beam antenna is able to provide some advantages in a number of circumstances. A quad has a smaller turning radius that a yagi it has a lower noise level and a slight higher gain. Jun 25, 2008 see if you can find a copy of bill orrs w6sai book all about cubical quad antennas.
All have delivered the goods with no adjustment of element size, giving good gain, fb, and bandwidth. If we are building a 2 element quad we would need to use a 2. In 1947, cubical quads began gaining popularity with amateur radio operators. If you are limited in space a 2 elements quad could be what you were looking for. Buy all about cubical quad antennas by william i orr, stuart d cowan photographer online at alibris. Small beam antenna maco yquad dual polarity quality.
Then you can start reading kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or. Summer contests are a great reason to get away from it all and enjoy the pleasures of amateur radio. A number of these quads have been built, using these formulae, with slight variations in wire diameter, but always using bare hard drawn copper wire. A fiveelement quad antenna for 2 meters by jim reynante. Smallest beam antenna maco vquad dual polarity 14x.
If we look at antenna books and articles about quad antennas, we will often find references to quad antennas having 2 db gain over a comparable boom length yagi antenna. The maco v quad is a directionalcombined verticalhorizontal polarization plus high gain of 11 db makes the v quad an ideal inexpensive beam for pushup mounting. Using a spider quad, such as the gem quad, is one way to ad. Design and construction of a national contest journal. A wide variety of mini quad band antenna options are available to you, there are 707 suppliers who sells mini quad band antenna on, mainly located in asia. Cubical quad antenna antennas radios amplifiers baluns and. Like a yagiuda antenna yagi, a quad consists of a driven. Another advantage is that you still dont need a big rotator a small tv rotor beneath this antenna is a long lasting solution. Using a quad reflector with a yagi driven element, the y quad combines the advantages of both designs to give the best performing lightweight antenna available, with switchable polarity. It has monoband gain, is relatively light, and it can be fixed in no time. See if you can find a copy of bill orrs w6sai book all about cubical quad antennas. Ei7ba multiband cubical quad antenna, ve3sqb ham radio.
This quad,fed by 2 coax lines, was able to work both vertical and horizontal. The quad reflector gives excellent front to back ratio of 2530 db along with excellent forward gain. Since its first introduction in the 1940s, the quad antenna has found uses in a number of areas. Since our antenna the 4 element quad has a feedpoint impedance around 50 ohms and our coax is 50 ohms, that means we want a 1. All of our antennas are hand built with the highest quality materials available and should give you many years of service. The lb quad was always a bit of a maintenance problem due to the less expensive construction i got what i paid for. High performance cubical quad antennas 3rd edition by john. Like a yagiuda antenna yagi, a quad consists of a driven element and one or more parasitic elements.