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Reviews For: Elk Antennas 2M/440L5 5-element log periodic

Category: Antennas: VHF/UHF+ Directional (Yagi, quad, etc.)

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Review Summary For : Elk Antennas 2M/440L5 5-element log periodic
Reviews: 90MSRP: 124.95
Description:
2M Gain 6.8 dbd (8.9 dBi);440 Gain 7 dBd (9 dBi);20 +dB Front to Back Ratio;24 Inch Boom
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.elkantennas.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00904.9
9V1PL Rating: 2022-07-20
Must have VHF/UHF antenna. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have been using a trusty yagi for over 2 years, never failed to hit distance repeaters and even worked ISS. However its heavy and takes a while to setup. Esp when my QTH is a condo balcony, QRT requires me to remove everything visible. Some effort and joy lost there!

I chanced upon the Elk Antenna and read a lot about it. Took on the 2M/440 non-black powder coated version and i am so pleased with it as compared to my yagi.

Minutes upon its arrival at my door step, i got it setup without even the need to look at any instruction. Its that easy and took me only 2-3mins to get on air. I hook up a nanoVNA and was surprised to see the SWR even those not at its lowest point are reading less than 2:1. 1:1 on many spot frequencies. Done this reading on both 2m and 70cm.

Now to make comparison with my yagi, using only 5W from my HT. I hit the local repeater 9 miles away blocked by all tall buildings, with full quieting!!! OMG! Pointed in the same direction as my yagi, the yagi is coming back scratchy! Tested another repeater in my neighboring country about 34 miles north (Back facing from my balcony) Totally no LOS and still worked 56 to 57!

A little about my use case. My QTH is 4th floor condo balcony with ceiling and surrounded by tall buildings (23 floors) around me. Elk 2M/440 is mounted on a vertical bicycle rack pole with its last element in close proximity to the metal rack.

The antenna is so good that I take the extra effort to register an account here in order to post this review. Always give credit whenever credit is due.
W5PDQ Rating: 2022-02-23
High-Performance satellite contacts within a small footprint Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
My review on the ELK antennas, also includes several years of running the M2 Leo-Pack for linear satellite contacts.
After retiring and making the move to Florida, I purchased my first ELK antenna which was the Elk 2M/440L5 Dual-Bander, I dabbled with it for a compact antenna to use within my new 55+ community strictly for 2m & 70cm SSB, FM and repeater activity.

Well; this is where it all comes together. Once I got stabilized in my new home, I decided to get my M2 Leo-Pack out and reassembled.
After running my M2 Leo-Pack antennas at my new Florida location for a while, I decided shrink my satellite antenna footprint, since my Florida lot is much smaller than my lot back in Texas. So, I decided to place a set of ELK antennas on my AZ/EL rotator boom; I used the Elk 2M/440L5 Dual-Bander strictly for 2 meters and on the other end of the boom was the Elk 440L8 for 70 cm.
My complete satellite antenna assembly can be installed (or taken down) in less than 15 minutes; this true regardless of both antennas the M2 Leo-Pack or the Set of Elk antennas.
The major difference was the ease in which the Elk antennas can be stored, the M2 Leo-Pack was like trying to store a massive porcupine in your patio storage closet or bin. The set of Elk antennas go into my patio storage bin without being disassembled.

Since I'm in a close-knit community, I tried these Elk antennas which are mounted low to the ground; this allows the highest possible pass while the antenna tips stay lower than my privacy wall.
What really blows my mind is performance level from these Elk Log Periodic antennas, the low mounting height and privacy wall doesn't seem to be drastically holding my signals back. On occasions I may have a drop in signal due to the satellite taking a tumble, but it doesn't last that long and not that frequent.
On average, I'm getting just as strong (or stronger) signals from these Elk antennas than I did from the M2 Leo-Pack antennas.

Long story short, my Elk antennas has met my goal of high-performance satellite contacts within a small operational footprint with easy storage.
An additional Note: No pre-amps are in use.
For photos, please go to my QRZ webpage, any questions or further inquiry please feel free to email me listed on my QRZ webpage.
K1CKU Rating: 2020-10-06
Impressive! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Very simple assembly without even having to read the instructions, thanks to color coded parts. I immediately took it and my Wouxan KG-UV9P to a hill near my house and was reported 5/9 while hitting a 70cm repeater that google maps says is a 100 mile drive from me. To make sure it wasn't a fluke, did it again the next night. Now I need to take this thing to a mountain top! I also plan to mount it to a tripod.
WW4RX Rating: 2020-08-31
Works Great Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
My first review, and I am very excited about the ELK log periodic dual bander. Performance is great, sleek design, excellent construction. The thing just works!
But also, Jim Siemons W6LK is a dedicated ham and very committed to ENCOMM. Our local EOC used some grant money to allow us to acquire the Elk antenna for our emergency jump kit upgrade; a considerable improvement to our previous mag mount and cake pan!! I can't say enough good about the Elk antenna or Jim's helpfulness in arranging our purchase. I encourage getting one of these antennas, great for VHF/UHF, FM and easily adjusted for sideband/CW; and makes a great handheld to work the birds!!
Can't do better than an ELK!!
KG6TR Rating: 2019-08-19
great design and function Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I bought this primarily to use for SOTA activations on 146.52 but have also used it for satellite work and general 2m/70cm use as well. I like it so much I've also ordered the 220 and 440 versions for various tasks. These are extremely portable, easy to set up and take apart, easy to transport, and have never failed me on a mountain top. What more could you want? The main advantage over a yagi is broader tuning across the band, which is particularly important if you're operating at both edges of the band (eg 2mSSB as well as repeaters, satellite as well as repeaters).
K7TEJ Rating: 2019-01-18
Outstanding service! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had my Elk for a while and it was working just fine, may contact made on satellite, my main reason for buying it.

then all of a suddne it inexplicably went deaf, would not hit a mountain top repeater 3 miles away and in clear sight, the few APRS packets it heard would nt decode, you get the picture.

an email to Elk got a prompt response from Jim, the owner of the company. He suggested several tests to try. Bing around the holidays, I didn't have the time to test it right away, through this Jim would email me to adsk about my progress, which I appreciated as it showed he did not forget about me. Finally after completing the test and still not resolving it I sent it in to him. He tested it thoroughly and could not duplicate the problem, then he tried the coax I had been using and lo and behold we had the problem. I got the antenna back yesterday and it works like new.

But that really isn't the point. I realize thing will break but it is the service after the sale that matters most to me. I can't begin to say enough good thing about how Jim treats his customers. Emails were answered promptly and you could tell he truly wanted to help and make you glad you bought his product. he run his business with an integrity that is often lacking in small business today. He is a fine man and deserve your trust and business.
AE5J Rating: 2017-09-14
Disaster Medicine Time Owned: more than 12 months.
During Hurricane Harvey and the subsequent floods here in Houston, the Elk did exactly what was needed. I cannot mount external antennas, so the best omni I had was a flexible J-Pole in the attic. The J-Pole is good for when the AC is working, not so great when local repeaters are down due to flooding knocking all the AC down.

Running a HT without local repeaters, means you need a high performance antenna. The Elk did a great job mounted on a tripod on the second floor to pass some health and welfare traffic. I am grateful I decided to purchase it some time back.
W6KKO Rating: 2017-08-07
A Portable Performer Time Owned: more than 12 months.
It works so well I have three. One is always ready to take outside and work the ISS and satellites. Another is with portable gear I use during the VHF/UHF contests. I run Single Op Portable at 10W or less. The third is waiting to be mounted on the roof.

I also use this antenna for local club transmitter hunts and it works very well. The lobes are as one expects and I swing a full 360 using the back to help narrow in on the direction. I have hunted the fox located at 400' ASL or 4500' ASL up into the Sierra Nevada range. This single antenna also provides the ability to really narrow in using the third harmonic as I get closer to the transmitter.

I have pushed 50W through this with no problems (I was not holding it at the time). During a VHF/UHF contest one of them will be vertical while the other is horizontal. The horizontal configuration sits on a separate pole just a few feet above a Buddipole two element configured for 6m.

I have compared the Elk with an Arrow and found that the Elk lobe is wider. This pattern is preferred as it allows me to easily acquire and hold satellites as well as terrestrial stations during VHF/UHF contests without having to constantly armstrong the pole direction.

I actually own four Elk antennas with the fourth being the 220 MHz version.
VK2JHG Rating: 2016-08-26
Excellent portable antenna Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
The Elk 2M/440L5 5-element log periodic is a cleverly designed portable antenna that is broad banded over both the 2m and 70cm bands. Unlike similar portable directional designs using the Yagi principal, the Elk has polarization for both bands in the same plane as the radiators operate at both 2m and 70cm.

While I haven't measured the antenna's performance against the manufacturer's claims, I have found in practice its performance accords with what I would have expected from those claims.

I have mounted mine on a heavy duty camera tripod, using commonly available plastic plumbing pipe to ensure the radiating elements are kept well above the metal parts of the tripod.

Unlike a Yagi, an odd feature of the Elk is that it is fed at the front and has three boom elements, two of these are aluminium tubes and are part of the feed system providing energy in the correct phase to the radiating elements (in a log periodic any of the elements could effectively be radiators depending on the frequency of operation). The screw in elements range from 41cm to 47cm long and are mounted alternately to the two feed booms. It seems they operate as approximate quarter wave elements on 2m and as five eighth elements on 70cm.

The third boom element is a plastic plumbing tube that provides insulated mechanical support for the antenna.

For proper performance of the Elk it is important to ensure the feed line tracks at right angles to, and as far as possible away from the radiating elements. This can make mounting a bit tricky particularly if like me you are predominantly using vertical polarization.

I have fitted my antenna with an SMA adapter and using RG316 thin bore coax run this along the plastic tube portion of the boom (separated by about two inches from the active feed booms) and 'out the back' using the provided plastic handle to ensure the coax is kept well clear of the radiators before tracking down to ground level. Although in terms of the manufacturer's advice this seems less than ideal I have found in practice the arrangement works tolerably well and doesn't seem to degrade performance to any significant extent.

For its performance the Elk is a very light weight antenna (a pound or so at the most)and while not frail it is not particularly robust either so it needs to be mounted, demounted and transported with care. I have made a handy little padded cloth carry bag for mine to help protect it from the trials and tribulations of field work.

Overall this is an outstanding antenna product using a clever log periodic design. It is suitable both for fixed installation where light weight is important (although it may not be suitable for high wind and icy locations) and for portable work where its light weight and extra 6dB or so of directional gain is going to make a difference.
K1AT Rating: 2016-07-31
Poor performance Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I borrowed a 2M/440L5 from our local radio club for the purpose of DF'ing. I operate a UHF repeater and was suffering from an interference problem on the input frequency.

I found the antenna of no use. It acted as if it was forming multiple main lobes and did not have a particularly well formed null. I tried both vertical and horizontal polarizations.

One of the biggest drawbacks of this design is the mounting of the transmission line connector at the front of the antenna. This necessitates supporting the weight of the coax and the antenna cantilevered far out. This makes positioning the antenna more difficult than it should be.

The connector is also located at the same place on the boom as the forward-most elemeent. With the antenna oriented for vertical polarization the coax drapes right next to this element. This of course could effect the performance with vertical polarization.

For $125 I would expect a more rugged mechanical design and adequate electrical performance.

I did successfully DF the interfering signal using a conventional single band yagi with an ~3 foot boom.

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eHam Note: Elk antenna's comments here:

http://www.eham.net/ehamforum/smf/index.php/topic,110762.0.html