Hi all,
I have been lurking here and building antennas based on all the great information. First, I want to thank you all for sharing what you have found. I have built a GH6(ver.0) and DBGH6 (ver.0) and a gapless GH10(ver. 2) (all with reflector rods) and a Skyhawk. Each worked well in part but would not get all the channels I can get (primarily because they are coming from three directions).
In experimenting, I discovered an unusual setup that works better than any of the above. I took my DBGH6 apart and put it back together without reflectors and with the elements back to back about 5 inches apart. The goal was to try and get better backside reception. I have just downloaded the modelling software and was going to play around with it and figure out why this works. But as it will take me a long time to get proficient, I thought I would post here to see if any of you had heard of this or had ideas.
The first thing to add is that I am using 1/8 aluminum wire attached to either side of a 2x4 with cross piece plywood pieces. I connected the elements with a phasing feed line following the original DBGH distance from the elements. I currently have the antenna about 30 feet up on the roof. (I realize wood is not optimal, etc. but this is just a prototype to see what would happen). The phasing line is short but in three dimensions. I figured the downside in doing the double-sided would be multipath or some other such effect but I have found no issues at all with this. Instead I have found the back-to-back antennas gives me surprising strength beyond my GH10 gapless for many channels.
Using a CM7777 preamp, I find the antenna is close to omni directional, particularly around channel 26. In am in Clarence, NY and Channels 26.1-26.3 out of Jamestown are fringe but they are very strong even if I turn the antenna and try to put them in one of the nulls. I also get good results from channel 23 close to the null. On the downside, the double sided antenna does poorly with channels 38, 39 and 40.
I am not sure but I think the antenna is doing so well in the 20s because the original GH has extremely high F/B at about channel 26. As I have back to back, I am receiving front side and back side at the same time with my two element pairs. I am thinking of trying to optimize the GH element design without reflectors so that my antenna will pull in channels 38,39 and 40 with the extra power. I am also thinking of putting the elements 120 degrees to each other instead of 180.
I am curious what you all think of this setup. I can take a picture of my hack setup to show you how it works. Overall, I am getting better overall channels with this setup than any other I tried. And I am trying to understand the downside to my setup and how to further optimize it.
Cheers,
J.L.
I have been lurking here and building antennas based on all the great information. First, I want to thank you all for sharing what you have found. I have built a GH6(ver.0) and DBGH6 (ver.0) and a gapless GH10(ver. 2) (all with reflector rods) and a Skyhawk. Each worked well in part but would not get all the channels I can get (primarily because they are coming from three directions).
In experimenting, I discovered an unusual setup that works better than any of the above. I took my DBGH6 apart and put it back together without reflectors and with the elements back to back about 5 inches apart. The goal was to try and get better backside reception. I have just downloaded the modelling software and was going to play around with it and figure out why this works. But as it will take me a long time to get proficient, I thought I would post here to see if any of you had heard of this or had ideas.
The first thing to add is that I am using 1/8 aluminum wire attached to either side of a 2x4 with cross piece plywood pieces. I connected the elements with a phasing feed line following the original DBGH distance from the elements. I currently have the antenna about 30 feet up on the roof. (I realize wood is not optimal, etc. but this is just a prototype to see what would happen). The phasing line is short but in three dimensions. I figured the downside in doing the double-sided would be multipath or some other such effect but I have found no issues at all with this. Instead I have found the back-to-back antennas gives me surprising strength beyond my GH10 gapless for many channels.
Using a CM7777 preamp, I find the antenna is close to omni directional, particularly around channel 26. In am in Clarence, NY and Channels 26.1-26.3 out of Jamestown are fringe but they are very strong even if I turn the antenna and try to put them in one of the nulls. I also get good results from channel 23 close to the null. On the downside, the double sided antenna does poorly with channels 38, 39 and 40.
I am not sure but I think the antenna is doing so well in the 20s because the original GH has extremely high F/B at about channel 26. As I have back to back, I am receiving front side and back side at the same time with my two element pairs. I am thinking of trying to optimize the GH element design without reflectors so that my antenna will pull in channels 38,39 and 40 with the extra power. I am also thinking of putting the elements 120 degrees to each other instead of 180.
I am curious what you all think of this setup. I can take a picture of my hack setup to show you how it works. Overall, I am getting better overall channels with this setup than any other I tried. And I am trying to understand the downside to my setup and how to further optimize it.
Cheers,
J.L.
