Our next Tech Night will be on Tuesday, April 9th and we’ll be talking about the basics of Radio Direction Finding (aka Fox Hunting). During this session, we’ll also be building a 2-meter tape measure yagi using Joe Leggio’s, WB2HOL plans. I have built 2 of these tape measure yagis and they are pretty easy to make and I have had very good success! You can use these antennas for fox hunting, summits on the air or just hitting a distant repeater.

Here is a list of equipment that you will need to bring to the class to build your very own 2-meter tape measure yagi!

1. Metal Tape Measure – 1″ wide and at least 10′ in length
2. 6′ RG8x cable with a PL-259 connector attached to one side
   • You can buy one cable with a PL-259 on each side and cut it in half if you would like to share with someone else to cut costs – You may want to go with 8′ – 10′ if you are going to make two cables
3. Pigtail for connecting RG-8x (PL-259 connector) to handheld (sma)(sma female)

Optional:

1. Sandpaper for sanding edges of the tape measure and removing coating to solder on coaxial cable
2. Wire strippers/cutters
3. Soldering iron
4. Shears or scissors for cutting tape measure
5. 2 Meter SWR meter
6. Rubber Bands or Bulldog clips for securing the elements when folding up

I will bring all the PVC pipe pre-cut to the proper lengths along with the T and cross connectors.

After we all successful make our tape measure yagis we can celebrate the following Saturday as we have our first Summits on the Air (SOTA) and Parks on the Air (POTA) activation of Mount Pack Monadnock. This is a fairly easy summit and members can hike or drive up to the summit to test out the new yagis!

If you plan on attending or have any questions please let me know so I can plan for the right amount of equipment. You can reach me by email at [email protected].

Jamey, AC1DC