VE6AB Antenna Werks
Talk Power
You know what they say about the antennas we place in the sky to talk further....."If your antenna stays up more than two years, you need a bigger antenna!"
So with the installation of a tower and yagi antenna, the question is....how high should the antenna be... I suppose it depends a lot on how much money you want to spend on your antenna system.
We all have different budgets and expectations when it comes to setting up a tower and antenna such as seen in the photo.
A yagi mounted 30 feet up on a tower is too low for the desirable DX propagation elevation angles, although some of your signal is in that range. Still, many very successful DXers have antennas at that height.
A height that is a good compromise between performance and cost is around 50 feet. This height places your main lobe down into upper part of the main 20 meter band DX range.
Keep in mind that hams with high performance DX antennas normally have their antennas mounted anywhere from 70 to 200 feet off of the ground.
Something to keep in mind when setting up your first tower and beam antenna.
Where's that concrete!
Expand the photo for a closer look.....
