GW0WVL, Comparing a 5/8 wave vertical against a 3 element Yagi antenna.

[@kc4cvh]

Initially I found this video discouraging, as I am considering a Marconi (1/4 wave vertical) for the 40 meter band, which could also telescope to a 5/8 wave for the 20 meter band. Now it seems to me that there may be something amiss with the 5/8 wave shown here, as the difference between it (5 dBi) and a 3-el Yagi-Uda array (12 dBi) should be only a bit more than one S-unit. Perhaps the signal is arriving from an angle of 45° or higher, where the vertical is relatively insensitive.

[@georgewaters7667]

Very good comparison between the two antenna. I always preferred a Yagi to a vertical..but unfortunately for me I am restricted to wire dipoles due to the location of my new house ..I still work the world though so I am not complaining good MW0SWR.

[@niftyfiftycampingadventure795]

Just put a 4 element yagi on my tower .. 10m elevation. 3 S point gain on receive compared to a 5/8 wave vertical at the same elevation. And a 3 S point on transmit as reported by regular contacted stations... That is a major result...

[@Bernard-John]

hello, good video, well explained, i have the Gainmaster 5/8 and a 11 meter 4 element yagi, the yagi makes all the difference, when DX ing, thanks from Rotterdam

[@AnthonyJones-vk6xq]

Cool video, always have 555 or the FT8 stored in the tcvr's memory to see if the band is open.........used a solarcon vertical for years from North Wales and it worked well,VK ,ZL the US and Eu stations but a beam its a different animal, still have the solarcom its a good antenna for what it is, a beam provided its not to gainy (is that a real word) can be more of a hindrance than a help, used a long boom 7element and it was excellent provided you had the right beam heading !! Personally a 3 or 4 element yagi is a good comprimise, the beamwidth is enough to hear stations and sweep around for traffic with minimal rotator turning....for the price, a cheap SIRIO CB yagi is a bargain. Regards from France Ade

[@geoffmcwiggan2814]

I totally agree with your comments. Tho having done these mods - and more which I won’t go into here, the difference in both recive and transmit was marked...... around 1/2 s point on both. Which is a very good improvement 👍🥃🇦🇺

[@Gw0wvl]

I've never found that adding a seperate earth to a 5/8 wave made any difference at all .... Sure it would give any build up of static from around the antenna a route to go to be bled off , But other than that , I've never seen any improvement in actual performance by adding an earth to a 5/8 wave ..... Adding an earth to say a ground mounted 1/4 wave where the soil or earth is actually part of the antenna then yes it makes a big improvement , But not on a 5/8 wave or a 1/2 wave Silver rod type antenna I haven't see any improvement.

[@nashvilleoutlaw]

Makes me want to see the difference between the 5/8 vertical and something overkill like a maco 8 element 😂

[@adrianvarty2422]

Very useful video. Thanks for showing the difference. That was just a three element yagi as well!!! Thanks again.

[@Gw0wvl]

Glad it was helpful!

[@EdzashedFudwinkle]

I like my Sirio GainsMaster ⅝w 21ft Vertical, but I am ever so tempted to go get me a 3 element Yagi & Tv Rotor.

[@G0ogs]

It would of been interesting to see a horizontal dipole in the mix.The difference between the two is quite dramatic.

[@Gw0wvl]

The Yagi was horizontal 👍 ... I no longer have up that Yagi anymore due to a change of location.

[@dragonrobo9797]

Did the yagi always point to the TX station during the comparation?

[@Gw0wvl]

Yes, Towards southern Europe where most of the stations were from .

[@geoffmcwiggan2814]

Ok question sir. Do you have the 5:8 grounded correctly??? And I mean correctly ! Raidial wires , braid to the mast via the coax ... not via the plug. ? Etc etc . I does make a big difference. It will not make as much Dbd as the 3 element of course, but it will certainly improve both revive and transmit. Many many things you could do to improve the 5/8 . Thanks For you post 👍🥃🇦🇺

[@Gw0wvl]

Typical gain figures for a CB 5/8 wave is around 1.5 DBd , Typical gain figures for a 3 element Yagi is around 6-7 DBd ..... Grounding really won't do much if anything at all to improve the 5/8 wave , It certainly won't double or triple it's gain figures .

[@timdbl7804]

Do you have radials under the 5/8th wave vertical?

[@Gw0wvl]

No , Not on this antenna .

[@ianxbu5091]

Thanks for doing this. I'll get one! Can i ask how high both antennas are mounted during the comparison?

[@Gw0wvl]

There are similar heights , Although they arnt in the same place , The Yagi is one side of the garden the vertical around 20 feet or so away from it .

[@ianxbu5091]

@@Gw0wvl thanks, how high?

[@Watchman7_77]

The Yagi is a beam antenna is that correct? The 5/8 is a omni antenna? Also are you running barefoot?

[@roberthicks6697]

i love how quiet your location is, im s9 qrm in Beddau

[@AnyoneSeenMikeHunt]

What makes Beddau so noisy? I'm in Au and only going by google..

[@PIasmaZombie]

try a phasephilter, that so called "QRM-Eliminator", that nulls out the QRM-phase. there are different models of that, for example the "xphaser".

[@BigdxGunRomania]

Hello, what model is your yagi ?

[@PIasmaZombie]

how do you connect the antenna cable to the yagi, direct cable conection or gamma match or . . . ?

[@Gw0wvl]

When I built the Yagi antenna I went for the gamma match type of matching as ive always found the gamma match to be easy to build , And reliable , Basically it's just a shirt length of the inner part of RG213 coax slid inside an Aluminium tube to make a capacitor .

[@polarbear5464]

What if I make the antenna with copper wire instead of an Aluminum pipe?

[@Gw0wvl]

No real difference other than youd have to slightly alter the antennas length due to the velocity factor being different from Aluminium to copper and the diameters of the conductors.

[@MidlifeRenaissanceMan]

Hi I’ve been tossing up between a 5/8 and a end fed half wave and found your video Just out of curiosity, could you have some losses in the 5/8th vertical that have slowly developed over time due to oxidising and contamination in the joins? I know with my various magnetic loops I was prototyping, some time in the weather would see losses over a period, and reseating the joins would bring the antenna back to life Maybe cleaning those up might render you another S Point. Just a thought.

[@Gw0wvl]

Its possible, But all joints showed a low resistance when tested with an ohm meter., Also the vswr is low meaning its at resonance, But then that in itself doesnt prove its working efficiently and radiating ... Weve only to look at the common old dummyload to see that.

[@zzxxenith]

Gave up on 10 meters totally dead went back to 11 and it's booming

[@Gw0wvl]

Sounds like you need a better antenna as 10 mtrs is alive with stations.

[@T.M.G2014]

See when your pointing for say south would you pick any north at all up on Yagi even weak

[@Gw0wvl]

You will hear signals of the back of the beam but weaker, Depending on how many elements the yagi has will determine the front to back ratio ( Back rejection ) a simple three element yagi like this one has around 20-25 DB rejection of the back, More rejection of the sides though, So a signal thats say S-9+20db of the front would drop to around an S-9 on the back of the yagi, An S7 signal on the front of the yagi would probably be gone altogether of the back of the yagi, Normally the more elements a yagi has the higher the forward Gain is and the Beam width is also sharper so pointing it becomes more precise.

[@T.M.G2014]

@@Gw0wvl brill good explanation, you really need a rotator then

[@jaimelovera3256]

Is that a legal band to transmit in UK? In America is an illegal band . And I'm not talking only of the USA, America is from Tierra de fuego Argentina to Alaska....In America the people who transmit in CB frequencies we call them pirates... PIRATAS en español!