Some 2m / 440 VHF and UHF stuff

My Diamond X300A Antenna

I drove a 10-foot galvanized pipe into the ground (re-used, from decades as my AEA IsoPole backbone) with a sledgehammer, and clamped the Diamond X300A to this pipe. The 75-foot feedline consists of Shireen RFC400 coaxial cable, directly buried under the grass. The three ground-plane rods are *really sharp*, and must be kept well-away from people and pets!

I replaced my IsoPole because I wanted dual-band operation. The IsoPole performed fine and served me well for decades, but only on 2m. The X300A consists of a collinear (vertical) pair of 5/8-wave radiators on 2m; on 440MHz it features 5 (FIVE!) 5/8-wave collinear elements.

The Diamond X300A is advertised with a smooth 2m VSWR below 2:1; my VSWR is double-humped, but remains <2:1 across 2m. On 440... it works, but I am not thrilled.

I'm pleased with the coverage:

• south-to-north I hit White Rock, up to the North Shore and Mount Seymour
• west-to-east I hit Richmond, over to Abbotsford
• I can hear Victoria and Nanaimo repeaters, but cannot TX into them (with my 50W VHF / 40W UHF)
• Everywhere in-between is solid: Surrey, Delta, Vancouver, Burnaby, Langley, Coquitlam, etc.