435 MHz 5 Petal Cloverleaf Antenna - June 2024

The 5-element omnidirectional horizontally polarized (Cloverleaf or Big Wheel) antenna is designed for the 70cm band (425 to 445 MHz). It is suitable for SSB and beacon use, featuring a neutral gain of 0.0 dBd compared to a dipole of the same frequency and polarization. This antenna is very broadband and, although complex to construct, produces consistent and replicatable performance results.
The video includes details of construction, testing, and installation, along with an operational example. A similar version of this antenna was installed at the VK6RTU beacon in the City of Kalgoorlie in 2021.
435 MHz 5 Petal Cloverleaf Antenna details:
vk6ysf.com/435mhz_5_petal_clo...
Omnidirectional Horizontally Polarized Uhf Antenna Design: vk6ysf.com/UHFOmniDesignMQP.pdf

[@garyb47]

Peter, An enjoyable video, and an antenna worth playing with. A few construction points for future builds - 1. use stainless steel wool to polish aluminium, steel wool leaves minute pieces ofr steel embedded in the surface and will rust over time; 2. to get a better electrical connection between the N connector centre pin and the stainless rod, tin the stainless with silver solder first then use your tin/lead solder to the centre pin rather than using a crimped joint between copper and stainless; when riveting, especially on the small disc, put each rivet in and only clench it with the first bite until you have all the rivets in place. This allows you to more easily rotate the plate to align everything before completing the rivet process. Thanks for the though provocation with this build.

[@RogierYou]

Excellent build!

[@fitcher-armchair-sleuth]

Such an interesting antenna. Enjoyed your video on it's construction. Well done!

[@petermiles6557]

Thanks and I have some more interesting antennas in the works for 70cm

[@ghlscitel6714]

Impressive results I made a "Big Wheel" antenna for 2m in 1968 consisting of 2 storeys with 3 active elements each. Though I only had a voltmeter, a self-made transmitter/receiver, and a lightbulb with a loop to detect HF, It worked and I had several QSOs with them.

[@aschlack8889]

Thank you for the video. 73

[@robertwebb5586]

i would love to see that for 10meters .......Good Video Peter

[@petermiles6557]

Why not 80m hi hi. I built a 3 petal clover leaf antenna for 2m and that seems large. I like 70cm for antenna experimenting as the size is more manageable while not being too fiddly.

[@kennethschultz6465]

@@petermiles6557 me2 .. its a """handy size"""

[@deanberglund2332]

Thanks for this video and project. I would love to see how well this works in a real application such as satellites or the ISS repeater.

[@gregwmanning]

Great video. Do you have a cross pole loss with the two standard dipoles?

[@damienforestier4178]

Interesting antenna which differs from the « standard » 3 elements. I would like to compare gain and results of a 3 element to 5 element design…

[@REXOB9]

Awesome looking antenna!

[@petermiles6557]

Thanks! The guys that I built the original antenna for the 70cm beacon said the same.

[@G0NMY]

So with the antenna appearing inductive could you not add make the driven plate larger and lower it closer to the cold end disc to increase capacitance, or maybe use a couple of disks mounted below the driven end.? Just an idea, also where each petal overlaps the next, would making the overlap a bit more not increase capacitance? Just an idea, Think I will have a go at building one and see what happens thanks for the video, very interesting.

[@MrCuddlyable]

What is the electrical behaviour of the aluminium jointing compound?

[@debohannan4315]

Do you need a choke on this antenna ?

[@debohannan4315]

Wht is the common mode current look like?

[@kennethschultz6465]

ooh btw .. great work.. greetings from DENMARK vy 7 3 de OZ1*** since 1980 i hawed build a arial or 2 .. and now i build collinear for LoRa 868MHz 6dbd 9Dbd working on a 12DBd

[@petermiles6557]

I enjoy antenna building and testing, Always looking for an unusual design to have a go at....

[@youtubeaccount931]

is there horizontal gain or is it pretty even across elevations?

[@petermiles6557]

No, it has more gain towards the horizon. At the end of the video you can see it held a good signal right down to 0 degrees. That said it has more of a sky view than I thought it would have, so maybe good for satellites. More testing and experience required.

[@kennethschultz6465]

it funny enough, did not look on the smith card/map as the 5 bladed had biggest area?? but the 3 leaf looked like more area covered .. not as outspoken in the " 3 fingers " as the 5 Finger (death punch .. som body will get the small joke) the 5 finger leaf has way more gain on end of fingers but lot of empty space in between fingers and befor you told of the air capacitor i called it.. was the smith wrong or did i read smith right??

[@petermiles6557]

Yes; I think the advantage of the 5 petal clover leaf is less empty spaces between fingers. I adjusted the plate spacing for the lowest SWR, however the Smith Chart still shows the antenna is a bit inductive.