UCARES

I'm a member, albeit a new one, of UCARES. Utah County Amateur Radio Emergency Service. On Tuesday we had a meeting and built 'hombrew' Yagi Antennas. We built the antenna out of an arrow shaft and piano wire. The Transmission line was 3 feet of Coaxial cable connected to the driven elements of the antenna by alligator clips and to an HT (Handy Talky, a hand held amateur radio) with an SMA (or BNC) connector. The antenna is intended for use on the 2 meter band, and is light and small enough to carry into remote locations. (Remote locations are ideal spots to have a good antenna. I went expecting to spend about 2 hours on it, 4 hours and a burnt thumb later it was done. I now have a love hate relationship with SMA connectors, getting that little blighter on there was the hardest part. I love the small size of the connector, but it was a pain connecting it to a loose bit of Coax.