Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes

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

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

eMail Subscription

Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted.
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
KC5FGK Rating: 2007-08-17
Excellent product Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I purchased the 2/70cm 5-el log before Field Day 2007. I was impressed how well I was able to capture AO-51 and work several stations with just my Kenwood TH-D7 handheld. On Field Day, I was able to pull in the signals from AO-51 and AO-27 when my teammates were struggling with their Arrow IIs. Also, the customer service was excellent! The first antenna was lost in transit and Ray shipped me out another one when I e-mailed. All in all, an impressive product and company.
KL7GS Rating: 2007-04-03
Portable and Fixed great performance Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought my first Elk 2m/70cm two years ago and have used it portable and mobile. Great performance and breaks down quickly while driving or flying around the US. When using with a IC 706 MKII G and a IC-7000, I can run full power into both bands without worrying about blowing a low power splitter. I changed out the rear 90 degree pipe fitting for a T fitting, then have a handle of PVC pipe coming out the rear for use on satellites when portable doing the satellite dance. I left the middle T in place for when I want a semi-fixed antenna. For the stand or handle: I have 4 each 1" PVC pipe that are the same length as the broken down antenna, and wrap up with the antenna.

I've bought two more, with the black anodized booms and N connectors to install on my tower, with a elevation rotator. One will be vertical and the other horizonal, then switched with a remote sweitch for both satellites and terrestrial contacts.

I bought my first one through AES, but for the next two AES wanted my money, and would not provide a shipping date, other than more than 30 days. AES insisted on charging my credit card immediately, rather than waiting until shipped. I bought the two blck antennas direct from the factory, great service, and same price
W4AIJ Rating: 2006-11-25
One of a Kind Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is an antenna that is going to take UHF'ers and VHF'ers by storm. The antenna is nothing other than exceptional. All the claims are true and more. 1:1 SWR 2&440 for the entire bands.
30 db nulls. It's about time someone made a very small antenna for VHF and UHF that is lightyears beyond anything else on the market today. It's new, many are sceptical, I was...not many have heard about it , they will. It should get an award for Greatest new VHF/UHF antenna design
of the decade, and I've waited alot longer than a decade for something this nice to appear......
Thanks So Much to ...Pete and Ray ---
AF9J Rating: 2006-09-17
Met all expectations Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Recently, after a 6 year layoff, I decided to get back into VHF/UHF weak signal operating and contesting, especially since my FT-897D, has 6, 2, and 432 capability. While 6m was no problem for me, since I could load up my HF antenna, and get decent performance on 6, 2 and 432 presented a thornier problem.

I live in a 2nd story apartment. While this gives me some height above ground to use to my advantage for gain purposes, my apartment balcony doesn't give me much real estate to work with. Also, I prefer to keep my antennas low profile, so that ruled out any long boom yagis, and made it very desirable for me to use a portable antenna set-up for VHF & UHF, SSB & CW. Another consideration was that I wanted portability, since coax feedline routing issues (not an issue on HF, where I can sneak wire feedines through a window sill) pretty much force me to operate semi-portable, since I must keep the balcony door open a crack, to route a coax out to the antenna. Since my FT-897D only has 1 antenna port for 2 & 432, using only 1 antenna for these 2 bands would eliminate having to use and antenna switch, for a 2m and 432 yagi, and would also help reduce my visual footprint for my neighbors. So I decided to look into a log periodic antenna.

I looked at the e-ham reviews for VHF/UHF log periodic antennas, and chose the Elk Antennas 2/440 log periodic. It's size, and price (both, appreciably less than Create's log periodics are) were intriguing to me. The antenna was listed as being for operation on 440, instead of 432. But an e-mail from Ray, at Elk Antennas, that gave me SWR specs at 432 (about 1.35 to 1), told me that it would work fine on 432 MHz.

I bought the antenna at AES Milwaukee (they're a dealer for Elk Antennas, and I only live 10 miles away from them). The antenna uses PVC hardware for mounting, and the elements screw into a short boom. All of the elements (and their corresponding boom locations) are color coded, so putting the 2m/440 together was pretty self-explanatory. Hey, it was easier than easy. It took me less than 5 minutes to assemble the antenna. The mounting hardware is PVC, and fit right into the PVC mast I had bought a few months ago for use in a homebrew 432 stacked loop antenna project.

How did it work? Hey it's a short boom log periodic, not a 20 or 30 element yagi, but for what I wanted to do (have fun in VHF/UHF contests, without having to worry about screwing around with multiple antennas, like I did years ago, when I last operated portable on VHF/UHF), it worked great. The weekend of the 2006 Sept. VHF QSO Party was cold and rainy, and propogation was non-existent. BUT, with 50W on 2m, and 20W on 432, I was still able to work K9MRI (in EN70) on 2m, 200 miles away , and N2BC (EN61) 100 miles away on 432 MHz, in spite of the fact that rain pretty much killed any propogation on UHF. Its small size made armstrong rotation a breeze.

Yep the 2m/440 Log Periodic antenna met all of my expectations, and since it's directive, I can also use it to work Aurora (which is a lot of fun to do). The 2m/440 was definitely worth more than what I spent for it ($115).

73,
Ellen - AF9J
KG6YFX Rating: 2006-09-01
Solid & Reliable Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The primary usage of this antenna for me is for inside my apartment, hanging from the ceiling pointing outwards through a window. It has given me much more opportunity to operate while at home and has vastly improved my repeater visibility. The antenna is user friendly, functional and lightweight. Given its small size it performs brilliantly and is obviously built to last.

Additionally, upon contacting the manufacturer I found them to be extremely helpful. They answered all of my questions (some non-antenna specific) in a timely manner and didn't sugar coat the technical aspects.

Highly recommended, this will be a lifelong antenna.
W1JUS Rating: 2006-06-28
Great Value - Performer Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Elk 2/440 is a great price performer -- do the math ant $89.95 - duplexer $49.95 (not needed) = $40.00!!
Assembles in 2 minutes - Needs only one cable - Great antenna fer portable and fixed use - SWR 1:1
- Started geting contacts with handi very quickly -
KZ1O Rating: 2006-05-15
Totally pleased Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Everything about this product is completely satisfying. How often does that happen these days? I have used it for 2m SSB, for DFing, and most importantly, for working AO-51.

It's directive, it's lightweight, and easy to put together and take apart. I don't know how well it would work in a permanent installation, but that is not why I bought it. Now that I think about it, it might be just fine as a permanent installation, since it is so light (ice won't be a problem here in New England).
KC0VDN Rating: 2006-04-12
Great performance and great value! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The 2M/440 5el. Elk Antenna is a wonder. Not only is it the greatest value for the price, it works wonderfully and has a very durable construction. Setup is about thirty seconds. I could check into a repeater with half the power of my vert. I'm looking forward to some LEO satellite contacts with my FT-817. Great Job. Customer service couldn't be any better, either. Thanks!

Pete
KC0VDN
St. Paul, MN
N7KH Rating: 2006-03-10
Very Impressed Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Very nice antenna, deluxe SWR even up into the GMRS bands, handy to assemble, lightweight, seems to perform very well... I bought 3 of them because I was so impressed...

Kay, N7KH
AB2NJ Rating: 2006-01-12
Just simply terrific! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Now this is just one fine and handy-dandy antenna for portable ops. It is lightweight, easily assembles in 2-3 minutes and can readily re-orient between H and V polarization. while it's light enough for backpackers, I like tailgate portable ops in the parks etc. This antenna is great for quick setup and looks great too which all makes for some impressive ham radio Demo and PR.