[amsat-bb] antenna for 1.2 Ghz

[Greg D]

Add in my recommendation for building your own.  I made one with some
old aluminum Radio Shack "ground wire" that I had laying around.  Follow
the calculator for radius and spacing as best you can, but don't sweat
over the super fine detail.  Helix antennas are inherently forgiving in
construction, and are nice that they are circularly polarized which
helps when working a spinning satellite.  Both traits are in contrast to
building a Yagi beam.

Anything inside the helix is invisible to the antenna; I used an
aluminum rod, and heavy zip ties out to the wire turns.  Tie one end
around the central support, then use another (smaller one) to attach the
wire to the "tail" of the first.  Don't need to support every turn; just
use enough to keep things kind of in place.

Greg  KO6TH


Zach Metzinger wrote:
> On 8/27/18 2:28 PM, Philip Jenkins wrote:
>> Does anyone have recommendations for another brand, or have an
>> appropriate
>> one for sale? (I wish I had bought some of those loop yagis which were
>> prominently displayed in Ball Arena at Hamvention in the early 90s...)
>
> You might also try this home-brew model:
>
> https://www.mictronics.de/2011/07/1240mhz1280mhz-diy-helix-antenna/
>
> --- Zach
> N0ZGO
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