[VHFcontesting] US Antenna Manufacturer

Sat Jul 30 08:32:12 EDT 2022

Hi Les,

Directive Systems used to make a pretty FB FM broadcast antenna just for 
FM DXing and serious audiophiles. It was an 8 element dual driven yagi 
on a 16 ft boom, optimized for 88-92 MHz. All of the "listenable" 
stations were located at the bottom of the band and that was the focus 
for the audiophiles.  My dentist was a serious FM listener and he was 
complaining to me while drilling one of my teeth, that he could not pull 
in WERU, in his favorite station from Blue Hill, Maine. WERU had it's 
beginnings with the help of Noel Paul Stookey, the Paul, of Peter Paul 
and Mary fame. WERU was about 100 miles up the coast and his stacked 
array of old Channel Master yagis was not doing it. Sometimes, he could 
get it in the morrning when there was some tropo enhancement. I offered 
to make him something and came up with the design after hearing what was 
needed.  Bear in mind that FM has the dreaded (or good) capture effect, 
meaning that the stronger station will blot out any weaker station on 
that channel. I felt that a great pattern was a necessary trait for FM 
listening and DXing.  I could not get great patterns across all of 20 
MHz with any design that was practical, and still maintain the amount of 
gain needed to pull in those distant stations. I settled on a 4 MHz spam 
of great patterns and fantastic gain and then it all degraded as you 
went above 92 MHz. It was OK up to about 95 or 96 and then would pick up 
stations above that but had the gain and pattern of a bed spring.

My Dentist was thrilled. A single DS88-8 pulled in WERU all day every 
day, winter and summer in stereo even!!  He was so enthused that I made 
a 2nd antenna for him, and he stacked them on a Rohn 25 tower.  He 
marveled that he could rotate that array and pick up many low power FM 
stations on the same frequency.  I made the antenna available to WERU 
listeners and the radio station even had a link on their web page for 
Directive Systems.  I sold a few of the yagis to the FM translator 
people who used off air signals pumped into new areas, but also sold 
them to end users who just wanted to hear a certain FM station. Then the 
trouble began. Dealing with consumers turned out to be a huge time sink 
and general time waster for me, while trying to run a small antenna 
shop. Not only was I the antenna designer, but I was also the customer 
service agent. Any of my employees had no background to handle customer 
service. I found that an antenna that required assembly and proper 
siting was beyond he capacity of many people. I remember spending so 
much time with one customer that I started dreading to hear the phone 
ring!  I finally told her that she should return the antenna and I would 
refund her money. The next spring, a pickup truck appeared in my yard. A 
old Mainer hobbled out of the driver's seat, while the woman who owned 
the DX88-8 exited the passenger side with her large poodle. I looked in 
the bed of the truck and there was only about 1/2 of the antenna. The 
boom was missing along with a few elements. What was left was all 
covered with chicken shit. Apparently the antenna, or what was left of 
it, spent the winter in her chicken coop.  The poodle saw my huge hay 
field and immediately bounded off happily barking and howling and 
checked out his new digs. The smelling must have been great as he had no 
desire to answer the calls of his master. She started yelling and 
screaming at the dog to come back. The dog paid her no attention. She 
started running after the poodle, while I was trying to explain that she 
had forgotten to bring back most of the antenna.  She was getting more 
upset by the second, so I went back to the shop and talked to the old 
Mainer who drove her down to my place. We both leaned against the truck 
while observing the lady running all over the field chasing after the 
poodle. She was now screaming vile epithets and was truly unhinged.  It 
actually was a surreal vision!   I told her driver that it was my 
opinion that she had anger management issues. He replied "Ayuh".

While watching all of this, I decided that life was too short to try to 
sell any product to the general public. My customers who bought yagis 
and loop yagis were great. They knew what they wanted. They always asked 
reasonable questions, and any problems that surfaced would always get 
solved very quickly.  I realized that the VHF/UHF ham population was a 
great group and any time spent on the phone was very rewarding for me.  
The general public? Not so much!I discontinued the FM yagi shortly after 
the poodle incident.

I think I still have the design available on paper.

I could write a book!

73

Dave K1WHS

On 7/29/2022 8:44 PM, Les Rayburn wrote:
> For those VHF weak signal operators who also enjoy FM DXing, you may be aware that antennas for the FM Broadcast band 88-108 Mhz are nearly impossible to find now in the US. Those available are of limited performance. Dipoles, 4-element beams, etc.
>
> The days of running down to Radio Shack or an electronics shop and buying an APS-13 fringe-FM antenna are gone.
>
>
> InnovAntenna makes some large OP-DES Yagis for the FM band, but they’re expensive, shipping costs to the US are high, and delivery times have been unpredictable.
>
> https://www.innovantennas.com/en/our-antennas/240/26/88mhz-108mhz-broadcast/11-element-88-108mhz-op-desInnovAntennas%20shop.html <https://www.innovantennas.com/en/our-antennas/240/26/88mhz-108mhz-broadcast/11-element-88-108mhz-op-desInnovAntennas%20shop.html>
>
> Antennland in Germany makes the famous Korner 9.2 FM antenna, which are well built, and perform great. A few years back, I imported ten of them into the US and sold them immediately. We discussed bringing the larger Korner 14 design to market, but their vendor in Italy went out of business, and shipping costs became prohibitive.
>
> https://www-antennenland-net.translate.goog/3H-FM-9M19?_x_tr_sl=de&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc <https://www-antennenland-net.translate.goog/3H-FM-9M19?_x_tr_sl=de&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc>
>
>
> I believe there is a market of FM DXers and audiophiles seeking high-performance FM antennas. Albeit a limited market, where the antennas would have to be expensive to be profitable.
>
> It seems like the perfect market for a small, specialty antenna manufacturer. There used to be such a company in Maine that manufactured VHF weak-signal antennas. But I can’t recall who that was.
>
> I’d be interested in discussing this as a business venture and am willing to help with development costs to explore the idea further. Does anyone know a shop that might be interested?
>
> 73,
>
> Les Rayburn, N1LF
> les at highnoonfilm.com <mailto:les at highnoonfilm.com>
> 121 Mayfair Park
> Maylene, AL 35114
> EM63nf
>
> NRC & IRCA Courtesy Program Committee Chairman
> Member WTFDA, MWC
>
> Perseus SDR,  AirSpy + Discovery, SDRPlay RSP Duo, Sony XDR-F1HD [XDR Guy Modified], Korner 9.2 Antenna, FM-6 Antenna, Kitz Technologies KT-501 Pre-amps, Quantum Phaser, Wellbrook ALA1530 Loop, Wellbrook Flag, Clifton Labs Active Whip.
>
> “Nothing but blues and Elvis, and somebody else’s favorite song…”
>
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