Those of us that are into ham radio know that one of the most important parts of a radio station, if not the most import part, is the antenna. Most of the hams I know have spent, or a willing to spend, hundreds of dollars in transceivers. When it comes to the antenna system, well... it's a different story! Today I will write about a commercial antenna design that I find interesting enough to write about. It's the Multiband M0PLK Delta antenna Here's why I find it interesting. It's a muliband antenna. Performs well on 20-17-15-12-10m. It can be used on the lower and higher bands (with reduced performance). It's a loop, so it has a low angle of radiation. This favors DX contacts. Since it's a single loop, it's bi-directional. On a permanent installation it only requires a light duty rotor (a TV antenna rotor) to rotate the antenna. It can be turned by hand, with minor effort, in a portable operation. It can be home-built in a light-weight format, turning this antenna into a very interesting option for those of us who do SOTA or operate portable. So, what does this antenna look like? Here it is: The loop is formed my two aluminum "arms". On top of each arm, wire is used until the feed point. Here's a pictures showing this particular connection: The feed point is then fed with ladder line that comes down into a balun. After the balun the usual 50 ohm coax is used. Here are some pictures of the base of the antenna, including the balun: This antenna is, at this time, commercialized at about 225€, that is about 300USD. Here are a couple of places where you can buy it: VPA Systems UrBasket.eu UrBastket ebay shop (here you van actually make an offer for the antenna). If you curious about the antenna designer you can find him at QRZ,com. And of course, you can read this antenna reviews on eham where it currently rates exceptionally well. As I own two of these antennas my experience dealing with Artur (M0PLK) was the best. Just to show how good the support is I will share a quick story: when I bought the antennas I had plans to use them right away. Unfortunately when the antennas arrived my job position had changed and I was loaded with work. I had no choice other to check what had arrived and store the antennas, waiting for a better day to use them. Time went by and one year (yes, you read well, one year) latter I found the time to assemble the antennas only to find out that there were a couple of parts missing (some clamps; simple parts really, I should have checked). I e-mailed Artur anticipating that we would ask me why so much time after buying I was asking for missing parts. I never received such a question. Instead, at his suggestion, Artur sent me the missing clamps for the antennas. No questions asked. How's this for support? So, whatever you do, buy or build your own multiband delta loop, have fun and happy DXing. Here are the dimensions of this antenna:
