Last year's slim JIM antenna worked well enough in clear weather, but in inclement weather it wasn't quite making the trip to the Biloxi repeater. Scratchy sound, poor signal reports, etc. Out with the old, in with the new:
MFJ-1763 2m Beam Antenna
Packing about 8 dB more gain over its predecessor, it makes the trip to Biloxi in style on only 5 Watts. Took a bit of doing to tune down the SWR, including figuring out that tuning to higher frequencies in the 2m band entailed lengthening the driven elements – exactly the opposite of the way one might expect. Fortunately the threaded elements backed out and locked down, and all is good now. Getting excellent signal reports too.
No rotor needed. The entire mast turns easily enough, and mounted on the back porch it is easy to access. Just need a compass bearing, and those are available on QRZ.com.
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