Cut Frequency Yagis for WX Radio?

[N1LF]

I've been searching for external antennas specifically designed for WX Radio reception. Other than a glass mount vertical for cars, and a folded dipole made by Recomm, I can't find any commercial products.

This surprises me, considering how many people live in "fringe" areas when it comes to NOAA Weather Radio. I'd have thought that a cut channel Yagi would sell very well indeed to schools, businesses, and even residential users.

If someone knows of a commercial product for this band, I'd love to see a link.

I know that TV antennas cut for the Channel 6-Channel 7 range are good performers, especially if flipped vertical, but I still think there is a market here.

73,

Les Rayburn, N1LF
EM63

[spunker88]

I'd imagine a VHF TV antenna would be a good performer since WX radio falls between FM and VHF-H.

Even something like telescoping rabbit ears, extended to the right length and held vertical would be something. The rabbit ears I have are the right length for VHF-H when fully extended, FM when one extension is pushed in on each end, and VHF-L when another extension is pushed in. I was actually going to mod the thing to get the right length for FM when I realized it had already been done.

[N1LF]

I've tested TV antennas that were vertically polarized, and they do work great on the band. But they're also much larger than they need to be...and can't possibly compare for something that is cut for say 162.475 Mhz.

In true "fringe" locations or for DXing, every extra db is valuable. For people who have a critical need for NOAA Weather Radio such as schools, public auditoriums, etc. you really can't "over engineer" a system in terms of performance. I'm really surprised someone hasn't exploited the commercial opportunities here.

Yes, a dipole will work, and improve performance over the typical "random"
whip...but I'm interested in really pushing it.

The other factor would be a good low noise pre-amp optimized for this frequency range. Something with a noise figure of around 0.5db or less. That would really drive things.

In my area, a long and narrow beamwidth antenna would help with DXing these stations. The hardest part of hearing new stations is to null "pest" stations, allowing the weaker signals to be heard. Phasing two antennas would be optimum, but not very practical for my situation (HOA)

Hmmm....as anyone ever tried to build a true "killer DX" system for NOAA Weather Radio?

73,

Les Rayburn, N1LF

[rdees]

Les:

There are so many commercial antenna manufacturers out there that it would be impossible to list them all! Here are a few:

Astron Wireless, Bird Technologies, Comtelco, Laird, Maxrad, Sinclair, etc.

Most antennas in the US are distributed through either Hutton Communications or Tessco. As an indivdual, you can order from either of these companies. Commercial antennas are normally designed for transmitting as well as receiving, so they ain't cheap! A yagi that covers Wx band could be anywhere from $150 to $2,600. Larsen Antennas make really good mobile antennas, if that's what you need.

As far as a preamp goes, you might check out Advanced Receiver Research.

PS: I'm not affiliated with any of these mentioned! Just passing on some knowledge.

Ray

[AB3IU]

I've never heard of an antenna specifically for WX service, but I have seen some commercial Yagis for business radio that covered the WX band. It should be pretty easy to make one that's effective. The WX band is narrow, so you don't need to go to anything more complicated than a basic Yagi.

I recommend this site:

http://www.k7mem.150m.com/Electronic_Notebook/antennas/yagi_vhf.html