Thanks for the good information on steel elements for a 100MHz yagi. I
think I was concerned about something that didnt exist. I thought the fact
that the steel was magnetic might effect the elements. I'm comfortable
with using this steel wire now. I saw the straight lengths of wire at Home
Depot where they sell it for hanging Drop Ceilings. It may not be a rust
problem because of the coating on the wire But, the antennas will be in the
San Diego Calif. desert anyway, so rust isnt a big problem. Besides, these
are gifts so the new owners cal deal with the rust if they want clean *and*
cheap.

PS I'm building this (actually several) antenna for friends who live far
enough away from the city that their radio reception is poor. This
"building of antennas" is strictly fun and learning for me. There is no
chance of my buying any commercial antenna, even if it costs me more to
build one. I did build one with copper elements and it worked very well.

Jerry





"Dennis Kaylor" wrote in message
...
wouldnt it be cheaper and easier to just go to radio shack and by an FM
yagi
i believe they have a 5 or 7ele yagi for a cheap price

Jerry Martes wrote:
I plan to make a 6 element Yagi for FM reception at about 100 MHz. I
would like to use 1/8 diameter mild steel wire for the parasitic
elements. I have absolutely no experience with mild steel for antennas,
but thought it would be more bird tolerant than the copper wire model I
made.
I'd sure appreciate hearing from anyone who knows about mild steel for
"VHF" antennas.

Jerry

"Jerry Martes" wrote in message
news:9v__d.12789$oa6.3380@trnddc07...
Thanks for the good information on steel elements for a 100MHz yagi. I
think I was concerned about something that didnt exist. I thought the
fact that the steel was magnetic might effect the elements. I'm
comfortable with using this steel wire now. I saw the straight lengths of
wire at Home Depot where they sell it for hanging Drop Ceilings. It may
not be a rust problem because of the coating on the wire But, the
antennas will be in the San Diego Calif. desert anyway, so rust isnt a big
problem. Besides, these are gifts so the new owners cal deal with the
rust if they want clean *and* cheap.

PS I'm building this (actually several) antenna for friends who live far
enough away from the city that their radio reception is poor. This
"building of antennas" is strictly fun and learning for me. There is no
chance of my buying any commercial antenna, even if it costs me more to
build one. I did build one with copper elements and it worked very well.

Jerry

Jerry -

In the Popular Electronics July 1969 (VHF/FM) and December 1971 (UHF) ran a
series of articles for homebuilding
FM, VHF and UHF antennas. George J. Monser was the author of these
articles, "Build the Pyramidal TV/FM antenna" who the lived in the Santa
Barbara, CA area.

gb

"gb" wrote in message
...
"Jerry Martes" wrote in message
news:9v__d.12789$oa6.3380@trnddc07...
Thanks for the good information on steel elements for a 100MHz yagi. I
think I was concerned about something that didnt exist. I thought the
fact that the steel was magnetic might effect the elements. I'm
comfortable with using this steel wire now. I saw the straight lengths
of wire at Home Depot where they sell it for hanging Drop Ceilings. It
may not be a rust problem because of the coating on the wire But, the
antennas will be in the San Diego Calif. desert anyway, so rust isnt a
big problem. Besides, these are gifts so the new owners cal deal with
the rust if they want clean *and* cheap.

PS I'm building this (actually several) antenna for friends who live
far enough away from the city that their radio reception is poor. This
"building of antennas" is strictly fun and learning for me. There is
no chance of my buying any commercial antenna, even if it costs me more
to build one. I did build one with copper elements and it worked very
well.

Jerry

Jerry -

In the Popular Electronics July 1969 (VHF/FM) and December 1971 (UHF) ran
a series of articles for homebuilding FM, VHF and UHF antennas. George
J. Monser was the author of these articles, "Build the Pyramidal TV/FM
antenna" and Build the Mini-Pyramidal UHF TV antenna" who the lived in the
Santa Barbara, CA area.

w9gb


BTW, Mr. Monser was a 1947 Connell University graduate in Electrical
Engineering.

Cornell's alumni magazine reported that: George J. Monser ('47 BS EE) of Las
Vegas, NV, formerly of Goleta, CA,
passed away on January 4, 1998. He was a retired consulting engineer for
Raytheon Corporation and author.

-/-

"Jerry Martes" wrote in message
news:9v__d.12789$oa6.3380@trnddc07...
Thanks for the good information on steel elements for a 100MHz yagi. I
think I was concerned about something that didnt exist. I thought the
fact
that the steel was magnetic might effect the elements. I'm comfortable
with using this steel wire now. I saw the straight lengths of wire at
Home
Depot where they sell it for hanging Drop Ceilings. It may not be a rust
problem because of the coating on the wire But, the antennas will be in
the
San Diego Calif. desert anyway, so rust isnt a big problem. Besides,
these
are gifts so the new owners cal deal with the rust if they want clean
*and*
cheap.

I built a 2 meter 6 element beam out of some single strand guy wire. It
worked fine for a year or so that I had it up. There is no electrical
problem with steel but mechanical it may be something else. Rust being one
of them, the small size of the elements at 100 mhz may not be able to stand
up under wind.

You might consider using Copperweld wire. That way you have both the
strength and the freedom from rust. It's not mild, however -- it's hard
and springy, so it would be harder to work with.

Roy Lewallen, W7EL

Ralph Mowery wrote:

I built a 2 meter 6 element beam out of some single strand guy wire. It
worked fine for a year or so that I had it up. There is no electrical
problem with steel but mechanical it may be something else. Rust being one
of them, the small size of the elements at 100 mhz may not be able to stand
up under wind.