[VHFcontesting] Big Wheels

[Eric Smith]

If you don't mind importing European stuff... WiMo makes
Big Wheels thru 1296...

I have actually worked stations over 50 miles away
(non-mountaintop) with a single wheel
and 3 watts on 1296.  Signals were anything but loud but
the antenna got the job done.

They are great antennas.  I found some aluminum floor
moulding material at Boeing Surplus
and have fabricated all manner of Big Wheels out of the
stuff... Very tough aluminum to bend, or drill for that
matter. Biggest antenna you can reasonably make out of the
stuff is for 222. Two meters works great, and if you hose
clamp to tubing "spokes" the stuff is adequate for the
"edge" of the wheel on 6 meters even.  That is a big
antenna, nearly 10 feet in diameter.  

Eric
KB7DQH