Testing Yagis Antennas on the Ground

  

After you put together a Yagi beam antenna it would be nice to test it before putting it up on a tower.  Putting the wrong trap on or a mistake in measurements can make the beam useless. Finding out something is wrong after all the effort of getting it to the top of the tower is frustrating, to say the least.

A quick way to check out a Yagi is to place the reflector on the ground and point it upwards.  The tuning will change a little when it is on the tower, but you can be sure nothing is grossly wrong.  Supporting the Yagi vertically can be done with some rope guys.  I usually put up a fiberglass pole and use that to support the Yagi.

  

Testing an ORC tribander Yagi the week before Field Day. This test found a bad trap which was repaired before FD weekend. Guard dog Lizzie is protecting the antenna analyzer used to make the tests.

© 2009 - 2022 Gary C. Sutcliffe

  

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