Biquad Yagi 2 4GHz Wifi Antenna

The Biquad Yagi has turned out to be an excellent directional antenna. Performing much better than I first thought it would. I did change the measurements from the link here: homemakeant.blo...
Although this only has 6 elements, 4 parasitic, 1 driven and 1 reflector it out performs a 15 element Yagi from eBay.
Making this antenna is all about preparation, making the measuring blocks as shown in the video. The video is a little longer than normal but I have included every step needed to build the Biquad Yagi.
A big thanks to Preslav Enchev for sending me the link.
Support me on Patreon: www.patreon.co...
My eBay store: www.ebay.co.uk...
Facebook group: / 1313077415524264
Email: [e-mail]

[@17plus9]

This hand-held thing looks awesome.

[@cliffwebb2017]

This is just SUCH a good video. Clear instructions and every stage filmed with the viewer in mind. Thank you.

[@adrienwojak6158]

I enjoyed your video. I like how you are detailed and make sure that the viewer understands.

[@DavidsonianThought]

I tried making this using an elliptical type of pattern. The performance well however I believe you have hit the sweet spot using the bi-quad format you have here.

[@tmarbut]

This is a great build and thank you very much for the detailed video! Some people in the ham radio community seem to think that copper is an immensely better radiator and more sensitive receiver material than anything else, like stainless steel, etc. If you ever have the inclination, you might compare copper elements to the clothes hanger elements and see whether you can detect a difference. BTW, I operate 2m (144mhz) using an in-phase driven double biquad antenna, which has produced amazing results (but is of course massive compared to the antenna in the video). It may be the best 144mhz antenna I've ever used.

[@lukesbrae]

WELL I MADE ONE AND IT TOOK ME SOME TIME TO DO IT, BUT MY GOD IT WORKS GREAT..THANKS TO YOU.. ALL THE BEST...

[@Ampersful]

Precision is fantastic. Thank You

[@andrewmcneil]

+Nathan Riggin Thanks Nathan

[@lebouski]

this is amazing A ndrew Mcneil is the god of antenna making. if you EVER have an extra one of these antennas you make lying around i'd be happy to have one!!! name your price!!

[@LCARS43278]

Instead of using an aluminum plate to solder on (which steals a lot of heat from your iron) gut a crappy or broken toaster and use the mica board sheets that insulate the elements. It is brittle and fragile but if you lay it down on a solid surface it will be solid enough to solder against and it won't steal the heat from the iron so your solder will flow better and faster.

[@PBudge-ig2kp]

Thanks for this video Andrew. Very informative andwell explained series. I have enjoyed them all. Am about to build a cantenna from a metal toilet brush can. I sourced mine from Argos at £2.99 but they are available from Home Bargains at £2.49. I have also seen kids money box tins with a larger diameter but shorter in H Bargains at 59p. Two, with the ends cut out, and soldered together might be a possible useful wave guide. Thanks again. Paul.

[@d34thg0d99]

Your videos are awesome, I wish you were my neighbor. I want to be an engineer just watching your videos. Great stuff! I want to make this antenna I hope there are items like that here in our country.

[@UltimateSolutions1]

Does wire size have any substantial impact on signal. 14 gauge Vs 10 etc. Also I am wondering if the type of wire such as Copper Vs Aluminum would have any noticeable differences .? I would also like to add that I have given you an A+ in presentation of this video. Great pleasure !!

[@sighpocket5]

Nice description and assembly.....

[@Xynudu]

Excellent video. Very interesting. The final version certainly worked well. What dBm % did the earlier versions pull ? I have only done single element biquads but they do work well, less directional. I've also played around with fractal antennas a lot, but not in the 2.4 GHz band. I wonder if you could use the fractal element shape in a biquad ? Cheers Rob

[@GaryWalker]

Superb build video. I'm going to have to try putting together one of these. Have you tried one built for 5GHz wifi? If so, how did it work out?

[@vms6940]

Thanks for video, for elements i have used wire from cooper mixed with silver, a i'ii test it in the next few days.

[@smitysmit2216]

FANTASTIC ive watched loads of diy antenne builds this is the best one nice CLEAR shots and explanations + realy nice hi tech look ..any chance of some db comparisons instead of % many thanks

[@dan_mg3262]

Good day dear author video! I and other users are very interesting to watch your development/review, it is very economical and is available for anyone to achieve results, with a little patience and diligence, and of course watching Your instructions... But I can't find the information in details, because I'm from Russia and looking for a link to the blog below the video I discovered characteristics and text descriptions in English.. Writing this post through Google translator. I hope in the future you will have a blog where every person on this planet regardless of the language will be able to watch your video and read more article in the blog, using the browser translator Thank you, sincerely your subscriber

[@jplangbehn]

Thank you Andrew, you're very easy to listen to,, very helpful stuff : )

[@micharonen5693]

since it seems that you are really into ANTENNAS, the link below is a very interesting aproach. to skip a lot of chatter and comercial stuff move to middle of the clip Micha How To Build An ADS-B Antenna, Hak5 1606

[@jimmyjujames]

I plan to make this Biquad. Is the cable LMR-240? I may purchase a 50 foot roll of LMR-240 and a crimping tool for 240/400 (to RP-TNC male) due to multiple indoor/outdoor 2.4GHz antenna projects. Running DD-WRT on 5 different WRT54GLv1.1 repeaters.

[@micharonen5693]

thank yo for the detailed instructions, what SW/HW are you using for the spectrum analyzer ? Micha

[@highflowhighflow9896]

as you tryed using mesh on the reflector and not having improvements you didnt test the front/back result, a mesh or bigger reflector could do some more blocking of signals coming from the back of the antenna and can be usefull, even on shortwave bands that works out

[@freefilms10000]

surely it would be easier to fix elements to boom if you made each element in one piece. have you tried making this with each element of 4 diamonds? what is the maximum number of elements per antenna you would recommend for maximum gain?

[@soxrok2212]

Awesome video! I'm currently building one of these but I ran out of metal coat hangars... I have some smaller gauged ones but I highly doubt those will work and I don't want to risk having to rebuild the first 2.5 elements I've already built.

[@Hoverbot1TV]

Looks like the Lucas stuff in my BSAs LOL! I'll try in 5.8 with halved measurements.

[@kthwkr]

Well done.

[@hbond10]

Could I connect this antenna to your modified TP-Link WDN3200 in order to reach 400 meters from the Access point?

[@wonderland7444]

such a good video.............but one thing dear Andrew.....what is formula behind these milimiter calaculations...i am very much interested in knowing how these calculations are made....any guide formula...equations.....plzzzzzz plzzzzzzz let me know that

[@laithakram6519]

i do it man i do it and its was the best antenna i ever made can you made a video biquad yagi antenna VS the 19 yagi you made plz !!!!!!!!!!

[@randalhoule6201]

Thank you very much Andrew . Very well explained and accurate . I will build one . I was wondering if silver leaf on the copper would help ? A little more expense . But , maybe more dbi ?

[@brisketbaron]

You've helped me save so much money pal. Cheers

[@SuperAnass1992]

thanks for the video but i have a question this antenna what's a limits of distance possibility it took for a wireless network ? and sorry for my bad English language

[@adamgreene6745]

Great Job on not just the video but in explaining why you did what you did. I have one question, are the measurements for the quads inside diameter, mid-wire or outside diameter of the quad squares. I'm going to try building one using 6 gauge wire (a lot thicker than what you used). I'm hoping that by using the thicker gauge wire I won't run into the bending issue of the directors.

[@Bryt25]

+Adam Greene If you use thicker wire the element length will probably need to be adjusted accordingly. Sorry I haven't done antennas for a very long time but the % calculation will be online. Also length/diameter ratios should be less that 400 I wasted a lot of time once building Band III tv aerials out of fencing wire!

[@erik61801]

my deal extreme 16 (16dBi) element yagi works quite well, it does have a different balun style tho and it was only 17 dollars. well worth it. time>$$ Ive made circular wave guides, bi-quads and the "paper clip yagi" although they all are a lot better than dipoles. the prefabbed one cant be beat, paired with a 2000mW usb wifi card and country code set to bolivia i have almost 49 watts of ERP and almost 80 watts EIRP..(not calculating line loss) lets just say if I want I can shutdown your wifi connection from a great distance. ;) The freebie radar dish looking antenna that came with the wifi card works alright too..much better then laptops internal antennas or dipoles. Good video though and I will try fabricating one of these myself. Cheers.

[@pisoiorfan]

how many decibels is 80% ?

[@victoryfirst2878]

Hello Andrew, I like your antenna with your attention to detail. Am wondering if you could make an antenna for the TV with a VHF UHF frequency with lots of gain ??? Drop a line with your thoughts fella.

[@reednoel9418]

thank @andrew mcneil so muchs

[@TheDavidDailey]

thank you for your work

[@purplehaze6t9]

hi, very good video my friend. I was wondering if this could be used along with a dish kind of like a bi quad beam as I have seen many people use the bi quad with the copper pcb boards bent up on the sides and just two elements pointing toward the dish and they are bringing in a pretty strong signal as long range as well. any advise I would appreciate thank you. god bless. my friend. ben..

[@ericfargo4461]

Hi Andrew. Thanks for this. One question. you mention that 31.5mm is in the middle of the 2.4Ghz bandwidth, but that comes out to 2.380Ghz, while Channel 6 is 2.437Ghz. Is there a specific reason why you chose 31.5 as a quarter-wavelength? TIA...Eric

[@finicadaniel8205]

hi andrew, great videos. can you make a comparison between the stock alfa antenna, this biquad yagi, the 19 elements yagi antenna and the yagi cantenna.

[@laithakram6519]

hi can you answer me i need that ok ?? is the Folded dipole more powerfull then the balun driven element ????

[@cubitusclaudius]

+1. I would enjoy a comparison between all these antennas in various circumstances : Long distance, Walls etc. Anyhow, I enjoy a lot your detailed videos.

[@PetePuzzle]

The wire has width, so is the spacing between elements measured from element to element or from center of element to center of element.

[@stevecoakley2038]

How does the Biquad Yagi compare to the Yagis you built before in plastic tubes such as the 19 element one? Can you do a quick video showing a comparison of the received signals?

[@dougier8093]

That looks really smart, I hope it works well....?

[@janagansuntharesan6582]

Super... Is it necessary to link all the elements through the boom or can I use a non metallic boom?

[@ZorkwanM]

does the length of the biquad need to exactly 34mm for the reflector(same for the others)? i cant get it to 34mm..i get it to 33.5mm or 34.5mm..thx

[@freefilms10000]

do you test your antennas for swr? Whilst you show on a graph how good they are, this surely only refers to reception which is far less affected by poor swr than transmitting. So whilst you can see lots of access points, if you had the security codes of your neighbours wi fi, would you actually be able to connect and not just receive but also TRANSMIT?

[@hackerynet]

What do you think of that eBay Yagi? I have one and don't see how the spacing (constant) and boom/element sizing (way too big) is at all appropriate; nothing like the results I get from Yagi design tools. (On top of that, the one I received had been mangled internally in construction, shorting the coax with a fixing screw. Also no balun; I rebuilt it but it still has very poor performance.)

[@01VIPER27]

I am curious if you can use this 2.4 G bi-quad yagi antenna as a transmitter antenna on my 2.4 G Taranis radio to control my r/c plane. I am also curious on how it compares to the Hobby King 7dB1 FrSky Patch Antenna.

[@davidguardado.439]

Hola pregunta que medidas le tengo que dar para hacer una antena para 70 Centímetros. gracias

[@TheCyclopedia]

Nice I love it, Great video I'm going to have to build me one. What is the distance of wifi coverage that it gets?

[@rogerramjuice2562]

Hi ANDREW. When you did the test with the biquad at what distance was the A.P from the experiment?.

[@matthewhall9692]

I have been watching alot of videos about DIY antennas but I am so confused about Yagi antennas. Alot of people build them out of a piece of PVC or some other non conductive material but they say they are building them for the same purpose as Yagi antennas with conductive booms. What is the difference in using a conductive vs a non conductive boom and which is better?

[@vecbhopal]

Hello Andrew, I am planning to build two of these for my point communication with my friend's wifi network about a mile away. I am thinking to make a bi quad yagi cantenna, i.e to fit this antenna into a metallic can to get a more narrower and strong beam. Please suggest about it... Thanks

[@tantoookfloor7216]

The size of the boom width can be made the same

[@Ben-lu7zm]

quick question, is there anything you can use other than the copper clad cb? Not really very available for me

[@gregmj2004]

What is the distance? I live in a rural area, about 6 miles out from a small city that has businesses with wifi hotspots... will this... or something similar be able to reach out and pick up any type of signal at that distance? Thanks.

[@mariusporneala]

and which is the best portable directional antenna you have build for the best gain ? ...because i see you have made quite a few ...

[@skinjbir4444]

Hi Andrew, i was wondering if i could use instead of the copper plaque an alluminium plaque? will it work ?

[@nikkogutierrez5393]

that alph card at the end did you modify it at all?

[@txm100]

I don't get why on some Yagi antennas the parasitic elements are connected to each other and on some they are not. Does it make no difference?

[@cliffwebb2017]

The voltage on yagi elements is maximum at the tips of the elements and reduces to zero at the centre (boom). Therefore is matters not if the parasitic elements are connected to each other, as there should be zero current along the boom since all alements are at zero voltage at the boom location. HOWEVER theory and practice do not always work out, and it may make some difference isolating them, especially if there is any slight unintentional assymetry on the elements (this is my own opinion though). One thing that I have read is that the overall impedence of the antenna is changed depending on whether the parasitc elements are in isolation or not, which may need adjusting for regarding SWR.

[@hijabgem8778]

can i ask what is your advice on building the most powerful antenna, do you think it would be a larger biquad yagi?? oo how about a double bi quad yagi??

[@fpvrcstuff]

Excellent video , I would like to build a 5.8 GHz version of this antenna for my FPV ground station and your 2.4 GHz antenna looks like it is a very robust design . Can this antenna you made in the video be made to receive 5.8Ghz which is the frequency that my TX on my model plane broad casts. Cheers

[@andrewmcneil]

I have always said I will get round to making one for 5.8 the method is the same but the smaller elements would be tricky.

I got one of those antennas that is shown in the video, the ebay one, and I was wondering if there is something one can do to make it better?

[@timmcpigg]

Is it possible to attach a USB cable instead of coax cable? If so where do I place the extra wires?

[@ДенФёдоров-з6з]

отличное видео! палец вверх! все понятно ,просто и доступно!

[@mariusporneala]

Can you tell me what is the difference between alfa antenna and this one you have made ....

[@onedayillpay]

I have been wanting to build one of these but I have a few questions. Your driven element does it share continuity with the rear reflector. And front element's? I think I know the answer and I feel that it's a stupid question. each biquad could be completely separated? Mounted on plastic? I would also like to share my new biquad build with a parabolic home made dish. Maybe you can take this idea to a better version... plz check out my new vid

[@andrewmcneil]

As this is more of a hybrid it follows the same rules as a Yagi. the first set of elements are parasitic the driven element functions like a closed loop dipole that you would normally fine on a Yagi. But the biquad has 8 1/4 wavelengths. If this was connected to the back reflector like a normal biquad it would not generate a effective radiation patten and as a result would under perform. Andrew

[@tantoookfloor7216]

The size of the foot element on the boom

[@Thunder3torm]

which alfa card do you use? i used the alfa 36h and nha and 36h has great signal but slow and nha is weak

[@rufustoad1]

Nice video! Can anyone tell me if a yagi has better reception than a parabolic grid? "I live on a hill in the woods with no line of sight". I have 2 different internet systems. 1 is a Verizon Cantenna (works good) and another AT&T with the grid and its awful. The AT&T tower I believe is 1/2 mile closer than the AT&T. I desperately need a solution and don't quite understand what is in that Cantenna that causes the reception to be so much better? Any thoughts would be extremely great full.

[@MrEricgram]

i might still be at easy Grasshopper level, but... How come on this one you didn't use a square reflector the biquad normally uses?? i guess i get the point of the bow ties as elements but if you built a BQ and used just another bow tie for a reflector for the driven element even if adding the screen would it be any better the biquad always wins hands down i was excited to see the results not a Fail but i had such higher hopes lol do you think itd make more sense to maximize and stick it on a parabolic maybe drop the back reflector and use the dish as one instead maybe Teach me Yoda Teach me I must learn to use the Force of Wifi

[@laithakram6519]

big thatnk man i hope you read all that post now i want ask you some think what is the best the double biquad antenna or single biquad antenna and i have idea what if you made double biquad yagi antenna :) !!!!!!!!!!

[@andrewmcneil]

Hi Laith the double biquad gives around 5dbi more than a single. A double biquad yagi, now that's something to think about!

[@ellisgl]

andrew mcneil demi0urgos.livejournal.com/5924.html

[@ellisgl]

Or even better! A double dual biquad: www.digdice.com/2009/06/diy-wifi-antenna-double-dual-biquad-16-17-dbi/

[@andrewmcneil]

Kenneth McCall I have built biquads like that or variations of the same design in the past. They do give a slight increase in gain but to take advantage of these you need something more power full than a 1000mW Alfa card. My tutor at university told me to think of antennas like speakers. You can have a 200w speaker but if you connect it to an ipod it is not going to give you 200w output. For that you need an amp. It’s the same with antennas. Andrew

[@ellisgl]

andrew mcneil The speaker analogy makes sense if think in simple terms. Of course then I start thinking about speakers and how the magnet, coil and cone sizes affect everything. Then you start looking at OHM rating and sensitivity (DB @ 1 watt @ 1 meter)...

[@venturioneyzaguirre8380]

how can i build a 5ghz wifi directional antena? to use whit my Rocket M5.. thank!!!

[@laithakram6519]

thnx man for answer me but i think you say in the last video the double biquad antenna about 16 dbi but you tell me this biquad yagi antenna 14 dbi is that mean the double biquad is powerful more than the biquad yagi antenna and add to that the yagi antenna is 17 or 16 dbi and the biquad yagi antenna was powerful more than the yagi antenna from ebay thats mean the biquad yagi antenna has 18 to 19 dbi is that right?? and if its right y you tell me the biquad yagi antenna is 14 dbi??? i need true answer how much the gain of double biquad antenna and how much the gain of yagi antenna and how much the gain of the biquad yagi antenna and what is the best to make it hhhhhhh im soory for that post but ineed information from you my big pro :)

[@victorzedwings]

Why all directors are of different size? Why spacing between them is unequal at many constructions???

[@highflowhighflow9896]

thats the way all directional antennas work , its calulated from many variables

[@victorzedwings]

I see, that is why I ask about details.

[@reynaldosinaga8019]

if i make this antenna with 455MHz frequency, is it work? i mean is the solder strong enough to hold that wire?

[@WYLMAS]

I'd like to build one for 2.3 Ghz frequency as my ISP use this frequency for 4G LTE. Can anyone help me to redesign this antenna for that frequency? Any help is very appreciated

[@galuhsitraharini6935]

what kind of Yagi antenna with the longest distance can achieve?

[@Funibert-Fox]

So, after 3 hours of measuring and solder my first parasitic element my solder is empty and no electronic shop is open now. But i figured something maybe useful things out. To prevent burned fingers, it is helpful to use kapton tape on the elements. And to find the exact horizontal position of the elements i placed microsd to sd adapters in the middle of the elements (because my piece of wood is my working table and it has a horizontal slope.) For better understanding: www.pic-upload.de/view-35417624/Y0GdmaPLS0mQVGOCZt629w.jpg.html

[@Funibert-Fox]

After fiddling around with the exact measurements between the parasitic elements, I decided to ignore the predefined markings on the boom and make a new measurement after every parasitic element. Now i have exactly 17 mm between the elements. Because my epoxy glue was after a other project empty too (and it is now illegal in germany to sell epoxy in the electronic shops), i decided to wrap kapton tape around the boom and after that i wrap a piece of tin around the boom (glued it on the kapton tape). That make it possible to solder the driven element very exactly to the right position. And it is surprisely rigid.

[@andrewmcneil]

Have you done any tests yet? Illegal to sell epoxy! That's mad, I don't know what I would do if it was band in the UK as I use it on everything, I would probably have to emigrate! :-)

[@Funibert-Fox]

Oh sorry,i forgot to post my experience. I have made a comparison to your Multi Element Yagi with a specific eduroam network and that is the result: www.pic-upload.de/view-35494103/17.Jun.14.48.042.png.html So yes, it is a hell of a antenna and i must say again: Thank you so much for this design and your work. I use it since i build it to share my network with my neighbours and it is very stable and fast too.

[@jbx907]

nice

[@nikkogutierrez5393]

What is he gage of the copper boom? KD2PMI

[@jhonsantana2204]

It is possible change its to a 2.6ghz 4g antenna? Thanks

[@angusgreeneyeslefay9485]

Are this antenna any good for long range FPV?

[@felixFPVDrone]

Good day Andrew, I need to build a 915mhz 1/4 dipole antenna what would be the measurements? It's going on a 3dr telemetry radio module to be use alongside a APM 3.1 flight controller. Thx in advance

[@peterm6737]

felix44860 Using the exact speed of light and *Not adjusting for velocity factor of any wire coating, or surfaces near the wire* your wave lengths for 915 MHz will be. 1/1 = 12 inches and 14.38:16th ( 327.64 mm) 1/2 = 6 inches and 7.19:16th ( 163.82 mm ) 1/4 = 3 inches and 3.59:16th ( 81.91 mm ) 1/8 = 1 inch and 9.79:16th ( 40.96 mm ) I hope this helps :), each half of the dipole should be a 1/4 wave length long, if you have an SWR meter you can trim or use a match to tune it up. 73 de KE0ANY.

[@felixFPVDrone]

I guest I should have for a 1/4 length, thank for the info I got it

[@peterm6737]

felix44860 You're welcome :)

[@treeptreepery4005]

that is grate job thanks a lot

[@andrewmcneil]

A big thanks to Preslav Enchev for sending me the link.

[@laithakram6519]

hi can you answer me i need that ok ?? is the Folded dipole more powerfull then the balun driven element ????

[@AlvaroNascimentoLins]

excellent

[@laithakram6519]

Thank you for the information

[@Bryt25]

+NooBiN TheSky Also impedance matching

[@gordonjames01]

does copper work better than steel for electrical properties?

[@peterm6737]

Gordon James Much better! Especially for high frequencies, the skin effect is more Important on microwaves and UHF.

[@peterm6737]

Excellent Video as always :), I'm going to try and make one for 223.5 MHz, it will be for Simplex and distant repeater work. I'll edit later if this works out well and it bridges the gap! 73 de KE0ANY ✌

[@highflowhighflow9896]

for those frequencys construstion is way harder , you might wanna use fibreglass with wires on it ... good luck!

[@rolandlefebvre6329]

hello kan i use this antenne in Benidorm sp

[@jeremiejoiecorrea103]

good day andrew, can you compare this antenna to the 19 element yagi that you made, thanks ^__^

[@andrewmcneil]

Good idea. Will do a test and take some screen shots and put them on G+. Can’t do it today as it is raining so would not be a fair test. Andrew

[@jeremiejoiecorrea103]

andrew mcneil hi! good day again,is it ok and will there be any adverse effect if i change the sma connector on the router to bnc, rp-sma connector is hard to come by here in the philippines. thanks! nice videos!

[@laithakram6519]

could you tell me how much dbi this antenna ??

[@andrewmcneil]

14dbi measured on a network analyser.

[@VishalBaal]

Great video, I have one question.. This antenna is used for receiving wifi and as you showed its 10% better than the purchased yagi, however is this a good build to place on a router that supplies a wifi signal?

[@bikttorh]

Hi andrew i would like to know if i could plug this antenna directly into a router ?

[@andrewmcneil]

If you router has a SMA connector then yes. If not you could always add one.

[@barabucho]

How nany dBi on this antenna?

[@paulcoolen4378]

Why? Gr,Paul.

[@ashtongrist]

whats a reflector?

[@Milosz_Ostrow]

It's an undriven antenna element that's BEHIND the driven element, much as one would put a polished metal reflector behind a light bulb to improve projection of light in a particular direction.

[@ashtongrist]

What does in driven vs driven mean?

[@Milosz_Ostrow]

Ashton Grist Driven means that the element is connected to a signal source, i.e., the radio transmitter. Undriven or "passive" elements are not electrically connected to the signal source, but are connected to ground or isolated. Passive elements will resonate at a specific frequency when they are excited by electromagnetic waves emanating from the driven element; this shapes the radio beam, so that the waves are concentrated in a particular direction instead of radiating in all directions at once. You can find all this information in a handbook for amateur radio.

[@ashtongrist]

I give up....

[@zakirnaikturun4586]

awesome..can u give me a bit more detail..huhu//

[@ghz240]

Iron is a poor material for an antenna should use copper instead. Aluminium is good but hard to solder. It's not a conductivity issue it's a hysteresis issue.

[@andrewmcneil]

ghz240 who used iron? Copper is to weak, aluminium you can't solder so steal is a good choice.

[@ghz240]

andrew mcneil I like the build, very nice work. Just pointing out the steel compromise may effect performance more than you're thinking. Steel or iron either way, still a ferrous metal. A little carbon to make it "steel" still leaves it almost all iron. Don't get me wrong iron ( or steel) will work, almost every car antenna has a steel counterpoise (the car). Steel or iron has a high magnetic permeability and a high resistivity (relatively). All the current in alternating current AC happens very near the surface (skin effect ) the higher the magnetic permeability the thinner the skin is. Less depth of material makes more resistance which is already 10 times higher than most non-ferrous metals. Did I hear the hangers are plated with some other metal. I missed that on the first time through If so the plating is the metal that counts. Our hangers (US) are mild steel and painted or plastic coated haven't seen plated ones. If the surface of the elements were tinned/soldered the underlying steel would be irrelevant. I did wonder why you didn't make one piece parasitic elements like the driven element. BTW spinning a copper wire back and forth with a drill and bench vice while pulling makes the wire very straight and quite hard. Just a few thoughts to feed on. Good luck in your future endeavours.

[@ghz240]

***** Clamp one end of the wire in a vice and the other end clamp in the chuck of an electric drill. Pull the wire tight and hit the trigger for about 3-4 turns / foot of wire.. Reverse the drill and go about 6-8 turns /foot repeat a few times until the wire is straight and hardened. The number of turns is not that important, If it breaks the wire before it is straight enough use less turns next time, you'll get a feel for the gauge of wire you are using. Excessive heating will re-soften the copper so solder with care.