Another approach you may want to take is the Arrow Antenna concept,
but built of WA5VJB's Cheap Yagis. Cheap Yagis work great and have
simple tuning requirements. I did a Google search and came up with
someone who had done exactly this.
http://www.g6lvb.com/HomebrewArrow.htm
There is a link in the article to a page with Cheap Yagi dimensions.

A somewhat smaller antenna is a combination of a Yagi (although you
could easily use the Cheap Yagi design) and a Moxon.
http://www.qsl.net/vk3jed/2m70cmant1html.html

http://on6sat.com/links/ is an extensive list of links related to
satellite operation, with lots of antenna links.

Good luck
W4KMA

On Sun, 17 Oct 2004 16:58:00 GMT, "Doug McLaren"
wrote:

I'm looking to make a 2m/70cm yagi antenna for working satellites.
The plans are out there, and it seems quite simple. (Or I could pay
$73 to Arrow Antenna, but I'll give it a shot myself first.)

So I hit Home Depot, and the closest thing I found to the approprite
beams was 1/8th inch steel rods. (Basically piano wire.)

It ought to work, and is stiff enough to not bend much under gravity,
but it's heavy, and I'll be holding this thing ...

The local hobby shop has more piano wire that's smaller, but it's
still steel, and as you get smaller, it looses the needed rigidity and
it sags too much.

The instructions suggest hollow alluminum tubes, which should be light
and strong, and a good conductor to boot, but where can I find these?

Also, I've seen Yagi instructions that suggest a that the beams not be
insulated from the boom, and I've seen instructions that say they
should be insulated from the boom (or the boom should be an insulator,
like PVC pipe.) Does it make a big difference? Does it affect the
dimensions of the antenna?

Thanks in advance ...