[amsat-bb] Arrow antenna

[Philip Jenkins]

My 15 year old (or more) Arrow antenna has seen better days. Elements are
faded, some are a bit bent, last director element on 440 is missing, coax
and connector have been exposed to water briefly at various times, etc. I
have the version with the built-in duplexer.

I've always used it handheld (but now that I know that there's a mounting
bracket for it, that could change) and until I got an email from Patrick
WD9EWK a few minutes ago about another topic, I didn't know that the Arrow
was being used for linear sats :-)

So I'm looking to replace it, probably with the same model. I have
considered the Alaska model, but I remember reading comments about how
heavy it gets with handheld use. And I'm in EM85 (western NC) so that model
is most likely excessive to my needs. And I could use it for linear birds,
although the M^2 2M-440XP I already have is probably better for that.

I've never used an Elk, though, so I'm considering that as well. One
question I've had is how different this antenna might be since both sets of
elements are in the same plane, as opposed to the Arrow with 90 deg offset.
Is there really much ascertainable difference in operating between the
Arrow and the Elk?

Okay, I think I've tied up the BB enough for one day :-)

Philip N4HF