Dave,
Regardless of the performance of the antenna, the story was priceless! I still
haven’t stopped laughing.
If you still have the design for the DS88-8, I’d love to take a look at it. It
might be well suited for the high-performance DX antenna we’re seeking.
73,
Les Rayburn, N1LF
les@highnoonfilm.com <mailto:les@highnoonfilm.com>
121 Mayfair Park
Maylene, AL 35114
EM63nf
NRC & IRCA Courtesy Program Committee Chairman
Member WTFDA, MWC
Perseus SDR, AirSpy + Discovery, SDRPlay RSP Duo, Sony XDR-F1HD [XDR Guy
Modified], Korner 9.2 Antenna, FM-6 Antenna, Kitz Technologies KT-501 Pre-amps,
Quantum Phaser, Wellbrook ALA1530 Loop, Wellbrook Flag, Clifton Labs Active
Whip.
“Nothing but blues and Elvis, and somebody else’s favorite song…”
> On Jul 30, 2022, at 7:32 AM, David Olean <k1whs@metrocast.net> wrote:
>
> Hi Les,
>
> Directive Systems used to make a pretty FB FM broadcast antenna just for FM
> DXing and serious audiophiles. It was an 8 element dual driven yagi on a 16
> ft boom, optimized for 88-92 MHz. All of the "listenable" stations were
> located at the bottom of the band and that was the focus for the audiophiles.
> My dentist was a serious FM listener and he was complaining to me while
> drilling one of my teeth, that he could not pull in WERU, in his favorite
> station from Blue Hill, Maine. WERU had it's beginnings with the help of Noel
> Paul Stookey, the Paul, of Peter Paul and Mary fame. WERU was about 100 miles
> up the coast and his stacked array of old Channel Master yagis was not doing
> it. Sometimes, he could get it in the morrning when there was some tropo
> enhancement. I offered to make him something and came up with the design
> after hearing what was needed. Bear in mind that FM has the dreaded (or
> good) capture effect, meaning that the stronger station will blot out any
> weaker station on that channel. I felt that a great pattern was a necessary
> trait for FM listening and DXing. I could not get great patterns across all
> of 20 MHz with any design that was practical, and still maintain the amount
> of gain needed to pull in those distant stations. I settled on a 4 MHz spam
> of great patterns and fantastic gain and then it all degraded as you went
> above 92 MHz. It was OK up to about 95 or 96 and then would pick up stations
> above that but had the gain and pattern of a bed spring.
>
> My Dentist was thrilled. A single DS88-8 pulled in WERU all day every day,
> winter and summer in stereo even!! He was so enthused that I made a 2nd
> antenna for him, and he stacked them on a Rohn 25 tower. He marveled that he
> could rotate that array and pick up many low power FM stations on the same
> frequency. I made the antenna available to WERU listeners and the radio
> station even had a link on their web page for Directive Systems. I sold a
> few of the yagis to the FM translator people who used off air signals pumped
> into new areas, but also sold them to end users who just wanted to hear a
> certain FM station. Then the trouble began. Dealing with consumers turned out
> to be a huge time sink and general time waster for me, while trying to run a
> small antenna shop. Not only was I the antenna designer, but I was also the
> customer service agent. Any of my employees had no background to handle
> customer service. I found that an antenna that required assembly and proper
> siting was beyond he capacity of many people. I remember spending so much
> time with one customer that I started dreading to hear the phone ring! I
> finally told her that she should return the antenna and I would refund her
> money. The next spring, a pickup truck appeared in my yard. A old Mainer
> hobbled out of the driver's seat, while the woman who owned the DX88-8 exited
> the passenger side with her large poodle. I looked in the bed of the truck
> and there was only about 1/2 of the antenna. The boom was missing along with
> a few elements. What was left was all covered with chicken shit. Apparently
> the antenna, or what was left of it, spent the winter in her chicken coop.
> The poodle saw my huge hay field and immediately bounded off happily barking
> and howling and checked out his new digs. The smelling must have been great
> as he had no desire to answer the calls of his master. She started yelling
> and screaming at the dog to come back. The dog paid her no attention. She
> started running after the poodle, while I was trying to explain that she had
> forgotten to bring back most of the antenna. She was getting more upset by
> the second, so I went back to the shop and talked to the old Mainer who drove
> her down to my place. We both leaned against the truck while observing the
> lady running all over the field chasing after the poodle. She was now
> screaming vile epithets and was truly unhinged. It actually was a surreal
> vision! I told her driver that it was my opinion that she had anger
> management issues. He replied "Ayuh".
>
> While watching all of this, I decided that life was too short to try to sell
> any product to the general public. My customers who bought yagis and loop
> yagis were great. They knew what they wanted. They always asked reasonable
> questions, and any problems that surfaced would always get solved very
> quickly. I realized that the VHF/UHF ham population was a great group and
> any time spent on the phone was very rewarding for me. The general public?
> Not so much!I discontinued the FM yagi shortly after the poodle incident.
>
> I think I still have the design available on paper.
>
> I could write a book!
>
> 73
>
> Dave K1WHS
>
> On 7/29/2022 8:44 PM, Les Rayburn wrote:
>> For those VHF weak signal operators who also enjoy FM DXing, you may be
>> aware that antennas for the FM Broadcast band 88-108 Mhz are nearly
>> impossible to find now in the US. Those available are of limited
>> performance. Dipoles, 4-element beams, etc.
>>
>> The days of running down to Radio Shack or an electronics shop and buying an
>> APS-13 fringe-FM antenna are gone.
>>
>>
>> InnovAntenna makes some large OP-DES Yagis for the FM band, but they’re
>> expensive, shipping costs to the US are high, and delivery times have been
>> unpredictable.
>>
>> https://www.innovantennas.com/en/our-antennas/240/26/88mhz-108mhz-broadcast/11-element-88-108mhz-op-desInnovAntennas%20shop.html
>>
>> <https://www.innovantennas.com/en/our-antennas/240/26/88mhz-108mhz-broadcast/11-element-88-108mhz-op-desInnovAntennas%20shop.html>
>>
>> Antennland in Germany makes the famous Korner 9.2 FM antenna, which are well
>> built, and perform great. A few years back, I imported ten of them into the
>> US and sold them immediately. We discussed bringing the larger Korner 14
>> design to market, but their vendor in Italy went out of business, and
>> shipping costs became prohibitive.
>>
>> https://www-antennenland-net.translate.goog/3H-FM-9M19?_x_tr_sl=de&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc
>>
>> <https://www-antennenland-net.translate.goog/3H-FM-9M19?_x_tr_sl=de&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc>
>>
>>
>> I believe there is a market of FM DXers and audiophiles seeking
>> high-performance FM antennas. Albeit a limited market, where the antennas
>> would have to be expensive to be profitable.
>>
>> It seems like the perfect market for a small, specialty antenna
>> manufacturer. There used to be such a company in Maine that manufactured VHF
>> weak-signal antennas. But I can’t recall who that was.
>>
>> I’d be interested in discussing this as a business venture and am willing to
>> help with development costs to explore the idea further. Does anyone know a
>> shop that might be interested?
>>
>> 73,
>>
>> Les Rayburn, N1LF
>> les@highnoonfilm.com <mailto:les@highnoonfilm.com>
>> 121 Mayfair Park
>> Maylene, AL 35114
>> EM63nf
>>
>> NRC & IRCA Courtesy Program Committee Chairman
>> Member WTFDA, MWC
>>
>> Perseus SDR, AirSpy + Discovery, SDRPlay RSP Duo, Sony XDR-F1HD [XDR Guy
>> Modified], Korner 9.2 Antenna, FM-6 Antenna, Kitz Technologies KT-501
>> Pre-amps, Quantum Phaser, Wellbrook ALA1530 Loop, Wellbrook Flag, Clifton
>> Labs Active Whip.
>>
>> “Nothing but blues and Elvis, and somebody else’s favorite song…”
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> VHFcontesting mailing list
>> VHFcontesting@contesting.com
>> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/vhfcontesting
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