Putting together a Maco VQ3 3 element Delta loop CB Antenna

Thanks to Tom and his crew at Maco Antennas.
www.macoantennas.net/NewProdu...

[@26TM205]

Nice Antenna build, it should do you well. One thing I will point out, is your chosen rotator is not man enough to hold that antenna in position on a windy day, as they dont have any real braking inside. It will be the weakest link in a storm unless you plan to lower it down in stormy weather. Just wanted to give you the heads up as it would be a shame for it to come down, although as long as the collars dont snap can be repaired. Keep on waving a hand 73 from 26 Division in England UK 👍

[@26TM034]

Allways good to see sliders you can tune it for gain..sometimes you see beams like this \--\--\ sometimes like this \--\-\ and closing the back elements increases gain but loose band width its reciprocal ,carefull on that roof lol..good dx

[@wwtf7180]

Tilt it on its side with one side vertical and the other flat and you get dual polarity. My friend did that with his 2 element and it worked perfectly. Gamma up. 73 from 567 Minnesota.

[@indianachrisUDX1313]

Antenna Junkie! You do an awesome job at explaining everything. 73's from Northern Indiana!

[@MowerJunkie]

Thank You, 73's

[@chipc4936]

What a cool antenna, and excellent build! I hope it performs well for you. Looking forward to upcoming videos of antenna comparisons. 73

[@charleswills4554]

Looks heavy duty. I've got a Colossal 10k 5/8 wave in the box to go up here. You should come over this afternoon and help me put it up. Lol 514 Ontario Canada

[@MowerJunkie]

Nice! the 10k is an awesome antenna!

[@gogeorge7]

Mr. Mower Junkie an awesome build. 73 George KK3R Houston AKA 399 Texas mobile.

[@snippits75]

It will work very good at 12 feet because my two element VQuad was mounted at the same height with a 10 ft. mast plus a TV antenna rotor. I did raise it to 23 ft. a few moths later. The delta loop type antenna like the VQuad is lots quieter on the receive than my four element Yagi. It actually worked pretty good inverted for flat and vertical, but I would definitely leave it in the V shape for best performance on the flat side. That plastic piece on the reflector wire is a PITA. I ended up taping the wires with Scotch Super 33+ to keep the spacing right. Just one layer of tape will work. Anyway, good job on putting it together!

[@tonyraposo5206]

Great overview of the assembly, just would’ve loved to see how you tuned it/SWR. Maco should have more tutorial videos on assembly as they have for the Maco 5/8. Thank you for sharing and taking the time to with Mrs. Mower Junkie. 😊😊😊😊

[@davidtaylorsr]

Love getting a look at my old Cherokee. Looks pretty good. Glad it found a good home, sniff😢

[@MowerJunkie]

I call it my forever car, But it does miss you, I swear it tries to take your exit every time I'm on 20.

[@davidtaylorsr]

@@MowerJunkie Aw, that warms my heart.♥

[@97Boston]

Thank you MJ and Barbara for inviting us over. That is the way it feels watching the video. I have a swingset to put together, can ya help me out?haha 73

[@udx-483muddbucket5]

Good one John. Catch you again soon. ✌✌

[@SevenFortyOne]

Great Assembly video! I'm looking forward to seeing how that antenna performs for you.

[@delmarbish3926]

Enjoy your videos, it was nice to make contact with you on the radio today , Delmar 2342 Northwest Oklahoma,i was talking on a late model president McKinley in the mobile .

[@MowerJunkie]

Thanks for the QSO today. Take care, Thanks for watching.

[@snippits75]

There is a picture on the net some where of three VQ3 antennas in the V position side by side on a custom very long boom. Yes with rotator too. Sorry, can't find it, but saw it about a year ago.

[@robcole332]

That is a beast. Great patience on your part putting it together. Can’t wait to hear it.

[@cbhamradio1507]

Turn that thing towards Kansas! I’ll be on the radio for awhile this morning. Love to see how that vquad works! Thanks for the video. 892 in snowy Kansas!!

[@MowerJunkie]

I'll do that. Thanks for watching, 73's

[@stlwildman2]

Dang we'll hear u on the bowl soon. 👍

[@justinrayguitars6024]

Cool antenna! Looking forward to hearing it on the air. Great camera work Barbara!

[@MowerJunkie]

Thanks so much!

[@45AMT]

Hard to beat a delta loop. What an awesome antenna. Great video on Assembly.

[@ERICtheLATE]

Gonna be a beast on the Air!!! dual polarization. loops have gain over a dipole already. all aluminum or steel. gamma is a pretty widebanded no balun match technique. Good price! Now they have a chill build along vid! 4 or 12 watts will cross the ocean with that rf cannon.

[@bigshowradio_550]

Great assembly video MJ ! Hope to be back on the air again soon here in the Ozarks! Should be an awesome antenna for you.

[@MowerJunkie]

What happened? Why are you off the air?

[@bigshowradio_550]

@@MowerJunkie having box issues. We no longer have a tech around these hills. Hope to find one soon😁

[@MowerJunkie]

Copy that, I hope you get it fixed soon. 73's

[@donl1846]

Nice tutorial from beginning to end 151. Look forward to hearing about the test results and comparisons. You are going to need a heavy-duty rotor (tail-twister for example) to turn that beast. 73 770-RI

[@irishhandyman2009]

Great video John! I just built a Mayco Y quad for my bro. Not operational yet, but soon. I have heard you via a K40 whip and a radioddity QT60. You boom here in Southern IN. Halfway between Bloomington and Evansville. Ive tried reaching out but the big boys cover me up. Maybe someday. Thec153 S iN mobile.

[@MowerJunkie]

Thanks for watching. Take care 153, 73's from 151 SC.

[@gtretroworld]

Excellent video John, looks a great antenna and a design i am tempted to build myself..Thanks for sharing.

[@803indan.w.corner3]

There's a operator here in the N.W. that runs the 2 element version of that antenna. . It's not polarized very well for local talking. But it shoots DX like no other. He also has a pair of Jo Gunn 5's stacked, and that little V maco runs circles in DX. Pretty amazing little antenna! Nice work. Catch you on 38lsb! 73's 803 in the N.W.

[@ehayes5217]

a really good, step-by-step build, thanks for taking the time to share it with us!😃🇺🇸

[@MowerJunkie]

Thanks for watching, 73's

[@timmygilbert1371]

Dude , you have a hell of alot of patience an knowledge !

[@dennistowerofpower5808]

Hey John! Great video… let us know what your schedule normally is so we can get out there and tell you how great u sound on the west coast! Looking forward to the next video. All the best to you and your family. 73s from 1017 on the west coast…..

[@donaldrizzo8373]

Very cool of you to assemble the Santana and make a video of the details of the measurements for everybody that buys an antenna like this can reference your video appreciate it very much

[@markhill9912]

I've wondered how much difference there is between a 3 element cubical quad, 3 element Y-quad and a 3 element yagi antenna. Thank you for all the experiments you do! We get to see how these antennas compare to each other with your videos!

[@MowerJunkie]

Thanks for watching, 73's

[@497SC]

@markhill9912 The 3 element Quad / Y-Quad will out perform a 3 element Yagi due to the nature of the low take off angle of the loop design. The Quad see's the horizon much farther. The old saying is a Quad will open and close the band long before a Yagi will. A lot of antenna data and theory on the internet to support this claim.

[@markhill9912]

@@497SCThank you for the reply. I do like the quad antennas over a yagi.

[@alzeNL]

wow - that is an amazing antenna - and to think its for 11m ! wishing you good DX and maybe my little silverrod in the UK will pick you up ! :)

[@user-tl6pn5kl7o]

I owned one of these in 70's and along with my Maverick amp I worked the world with it.

[@heffptbo]

Now that... my man is a great video with all the steps! Bravo on the great video. Awesome thanks!

[@MowerJunkie]

Thank You so much, Take care.

[@ronleblanc9832]

nice antenna seems the roter is a bit small ...i couldnt have that antenna here in western nova scotia along st marys bay have an antronn 99 had a ground plane kit on it weny out one morning there were the 4 radiels on the ground collar was broken had been very windy the night before ..the antronn is still holding its own last summer it was getting rough on the finish so i put multiple clear coats on it ..

[@MowerJunkie]

the rotor is a little small for this antenna. I'm looking for a bigger one, before I put the antenna any higher.

[@DK5ONV]

John you are a true Professional. I watched the whole Thing very carefully. You know what you doing. Yes I agree the Gamma Match is very sensitive by just looking at it will already make little Changes on your pretuned SWR. My JoGunn Skipjack and the Vortex V-Quad acted up the Same. Back to these Days we had no Nano VNA's yet. Did all the Tuning with my good old Vectronics SWR-584B. Got it all tuned perfectly and hey, these Antennas giving you some extra Punch. You going to love it. You and your Wife did a good Job. Happy Sunday from SW-Germany. 73 de Uncle Günter 💯🙋‍♂

[@MowerJunkie]

Thank you so much! Take care Uncle Günter. 73's from Mr and Mrs Mower Junkie.

[@charliehustle5529]

nice job junky . i have talked to you a few times over the years charlie hustle here in baltimore

[@osvaldogonzalez7604]

I have one and I am well pleased with its performance, but not the easiest to adjust.

[@coccodrillo4you]

Hi Friend , a really great video. I'll take a look at it again this evening. To date, I have never seen a video of the construction of a Delta Loop (in such detail). Thank you very much, 73 Ingo

[@foxman362]

nice cb antenna beam setup.

[@worldradio456uk5]

Hey John. I think you might be to posh to talk to with the new antenna .iam only kidding 😂😂. It looks fantastic. I cant wait to talk to you on that . Keep safe my friend. WR456🇬🇧 Rich.

[@tonym7cvk430]

Have an old 2 element Maco sat in the shed it’s been up at my QTH fantastic till it spun round and sheared the main boom, she will be back soon. 26TG064

[@spaceflight1019]

If you look at the propagation websites you might think that it's not a radio day, but the bands are currently wide open, so let's hear some DX on the Y-Quad.

[@RabbiJesus]

Which sites do you prefer?

[@spaceflight1019]

@@RabbiJesus Radioreference and Solarham.

[@RabbiJesus]

@@spaceflight1019 appreciate ya. Thanks.

[@tc2425]

Mr Mower ...Much easier and you will get a better reading with your antenna analyzer if you take your readings at the antenna ........get you a coax jumper cable ...we use a 6 ft coax jumper Road Runner Tucson Arizona waving ....

[@MowerJunkie]

I'm sorry, But I disagree. If you're using a 6 foot coax, your body is to close to the antenna, and can mess with your readings. But if it works for you.....Keep doing what your doing. Thanks for watching, 73's

[@tc2425]

@@MowerJunkie Well Mr Mower if you are going to look at it like that the Ground is going to react to your readings more than your body ......so really the reading at 30 Ft is going to be different than 3 Ft.......... So actually we have a long run of coax and we take a reading at ground level and then jack it up to 30 Ft and look at the reading again .....Your best reading and least reflection will be 1/2 Wave height above ground on your Resonant Frequency ... Also Mr Mower ones Resonant Frequency is not always the point of lowest SWR...... On our Mobile lowest SWR is Channel 45 (27.465) but Resonant Frequency is Channel 55 (27.555) Waving Road Runner in the Desert

[@reaperct3454]

Not bad man you going to be world wide

[@slaphappy001]

Awesome. Very nice ✌️

[@johnnyhawk329]

Good job. Cant wait to see some skip videos.

[@robertmoody2221]

Man that thing is sweet.

[@TheGmr140]

Nice antenna, love it 😂😊

[@markhill9912]

Such a cool 3 element y-quad antenna! It looks to be straught forward in construction if a person pays attention assembling it. I cant wait to hear about your test results, perhaps you could mention the total bandwidth at 1.5 and 2.1 swr? I just bought a Tram 4498 18' vertical that's all black in color, it arrived at my front door yesterday afternoon, i should have it up, tuned and ready to go today. I was wondering if you have in possession, or have seen a Uniden PC-122 am/ssb radio? I had one that I bought brand new back in 1986, had the uppers only kit installed, clarifier locked and tuned up. It was a great radio and kick myself for selling it. I also have the Uniden 640e and 810e which has the same 122 board. The 640e had the led segment issues but, I disassembled the 640e in its entirety and found that the led segments weren't burned out, it was caused by major cold solder joints. I completely re-soldered every single joint between the 2 boards, main board and board behind the faceplate. I checked and double checked my work, reassembled the 640e and powered it up to find all the led segments lit up and working as they should. I have had it in and out of mobile operation where it could be subject to bumps and vibrations in my truck for 6 or 7 years now and all the led segments have worjed flawlessly. Just for fun, I look for old 640e radios to repair, get working again and give them to kids that are interested in cb communications in hopes that they'll continue and advance in cb or ham radio.

[@richardcallihan9746]

VQ3 VVV Very Nice Christmas present Tom @ Maco. Mower Junkie is a deserving experimenter. 73/88

[@Joe-KN4IFI]

Great assembly job Mower Junkie. I see you are not playing around anymore and going with a monster of an antenna. Delta loops are hard to beat. Now you can swing that antenna around and null out that clown in New York that repeats 1 for hours at a time. 73 Joe

[@rcman1974]

Very nice.

[@ehayes5217]

I love my v-Quad; would love that one even more! 😂 73

[@luismilian3315]

I have this antenna it's a great antenna

[@danieljohnson8437]

Thank you for sharing, Mr Mower Junkie.

[@497SC]

Mower Junkie, on a Delta Loop the VSWR will improve the higher you get it away from the ground. Ideally a Quad / Delta Loop will kick ass at 36 foot "1 wavelength" above ground. That style of antenna has a low Q with high impedance on the side elements that angle towards the ground and is less prone to de-tuning due to interactions with the ground but it will improve with height. Also in the horizontal configuration that beam will Transmit and Receive 90% Horizontal and 10% Vertical just due to the position of the elements against free space. I've built many Quads and Delta loop antennas and modeled them with EZNEC software over the years. With a low take off angle they will see the horizon farther than a "yagi of the same size and gain". 73 my friend! 497 on the shores of Lake Murray

[@MowerJunkie]

Thanks for the info, Brandon. the receive on this antenna is really impressing me, the noise level is a lot lower than my Yagi. Thanks for watching.

[@EvanBlack72]

Bonus Cherokee XJ in the background.

[@mcconja]

I have been having a tough time getting my gizmotchy to tune correctly. I’ve just about gave up. I wonder if this would be better.

[@Dallas-Rife-UDX-347-Tennessee]

Nice 😎

[@MowerJunkie]

Thanks ✌

[@johnnyphillips9735]

Good job mr and mrs mower junky I'll be listening for you hillbilly in the bam waving 👋

[@MowerJunkie]

Thanks, 73's

[@user-eb6cb9xs9c]

Nice Antenna ! Any rnecomenation's for a rotor ? I missed it if you told about which rotor you are using ...

[@UDX4570PalmSprings-yh1mv]

What's the boom length once its assembled John??? You should get a NaNo VNA spectrum antenna analyzers and see how that beam operates throughout the 11m bandwidth. I picked one up for $38 bucks and recently been putting my Gainmaster 5/8~ through some tests, those NaNo vna's are flipping incredible tools for the money!. Thanks for sharing the build!

[@MowerJunkie]

the boom is 13'4" Thanks for watching, 73's

[@Dishtech48]

What do you think of the QV3 antenna by now ? Thanks

[@Alfa011]

Loved the video! Thanks. Sorry to bother, can you tell me what antenna analyzer is that one? Looking to buy one. Thanks!

[@VintageElectronicsGeek]

All due respect, its not a very good one! You be better off getting a cheap Chinese VNA for 50~100 bucks, does so much more, its graphical so you can see the dip or the curve of your antenna, along with SWR's/resistance and so much more! Plenty of videos on YT, research first to insure its for you, I have many different types of antenna analyzers, and I always go for a VNA! ~Jack, VEG

[@Alfa011]

Thank you Jack. After your your advice I researched the NANOVNA and you were correct. I ordered one and I am waiting for it. You were really helpful. Best regards! 73 de 2AT111

[@dishtech43]

Thanks for a nice Video ! I saw this video, and bought the same Beam yesterday ! Cant wait. This video will help me alot to put together. How are you liking it by now ? 73`s W9BYB

[@MowerJunkie]

That's great to hear! You'll love the VQ3, it's the best antenna I've ever had....and I've had a lot of antennas. Thanks for watching, 73's.

[@santhinyprato4180]

I wish it came 4 element

[@alecsimages1]

She's some fancy baby, interesting, call Kate!

[@TheRiddleNL]

Can you share the messerments ore building plan?

[@MowerJunkie]

I put a link in the video description that will bring you to the antenna specs.

[@sclep1]

Ciao sapresti dirmi le esatte misure degli elementi e le distanze sul boom grazie mille

[@ehayes5217]

What kinda' Antenna Analyzer are u using there? I think I need one! 😂

[@MowerJunkie]

I'm not sure who makes it, it does not have a name on it, it only says "HF Antenna Analyzer"

[@joeangelozziangelozzilo5613]

Very good may antena ,73 PU2YHF JOE ANGELOZZI Brasil....👊👍

[@ma2crs]

I need some of element bracket....what are they called?

[@MowerJunkie]

Round things with bolts. Thanks for watching, Take care.

[@ma2crs]

Yeah them things...lol

[@skippy6243]

👋

[@greasemonkeyradio1279]

Nothing like a Maco 155 Ohio

[@Dishtech48]

Did you build this for 11 meters or 10 meters. Wasn't sure where you started off at on first collar was. Thanks

[@MowerJunkie]

I put it together for CB use, But it can be configured for 10 meter use.

[@robertmethia7080]

that rotator is not going to make it for long.

[@TAKEONEURBANPRODUCTION]

Who on cb ? Dead here

[@mr.stonerUDX714]

not a great antenna if you have a lot of wind in your area mine lasted 30days now i am using a Colossal 25 k much better built antenna

[@MowerJunkie]

Not a problem here, we hardly ever get any strong winds.

[@zxeng6064]

Great job but to many 'moving parts' and room for errors the manufacture could have added some more cuts and markings - I'll give this one a skip - Great if you have lots of time

[@bitemykrank1970]

V-quads don't have to very high to work well. I had a 2element at about 23 foot above ground and it worked better than a 5 element Yagi flattop at 50 foot. And they are a lot quieter.

[@breedogg60]

Hello how do I get in touch? I need help on a couple of antenna ideals?

[@MowerJunkie]

[e-mail]