Need feedback on WIMO 2850MOX or ARRL's MomoBeam DUO4 6-10 MOXON

KJ6EPH

Newbie
Joined
Jun 11, 2024
Messages
3
Since my HOA would never allow me to put up a tower for a good all-around Yagi for 40-10m I am thinking about a compromise and still getting kind like a directional antenna with some gain, but only for 6m and 10m bands since that would be the least intrusive installation on top of my patio cover and least resistance by the HOA.

Backyard View.jpg

I have drawn how it would look like on the patio roof in red.

A top view here

Top View.jpg

In order to keep the antenna on the smaller side I'm looking at either the WIMO 2850MOX 2850MOX or a very similar design promoted via ARRL, the DUO4 6-10 MOXON from MOMOBeam DUO4 6-10MOXON which does not have an additional 6m director like the 2850MOX.

Both are very similar in design for 10m as pure Moxon, while the WIMO has an additional director for 6m that should give it higher gain for 6m.

While the 10m are nearly same overall dimensions with 3.74x1.45 for WIMO and 3.7mx1.45 for the ARRL variant, the extra director makes the boom 0.35m longer. The turning radius, that will determine the height of the assembly above the patio roof, due to the roof intruding into the patio flat space and the patio roof in general being not as wide as the turning radius of the antenna is wide, is with 2.0 vs 2.04 meter negligible different.
The price is nearly the same, so it doesn't matter that much. A rotator will cost more than the antenna assembly. The question is just with what rotator can I get away with? I have seen there are different sizes and I would need to find out, what size can carry it, they are both around 9-11lbs.

Since it will need to sit on top of the patio roof, as close as possible to the roof top (to not "offend the HOA with a tower) I'm not sure about the real free space height above ground to determine antenna performance. In general, it will be roughly 20 feet above the real ground/surrounding lawn/yard but only a couple of feet above the patio roof.

Does anybody have experience with any of them?
 

prcguy

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jun 30, 2006
Messages
16,643
Location
So Cal - Richardson, TX - Tewksbury, MA
Its a lot of $$ for the mild performance you will get and I don't believe the gain figures for a millisecond. This is a compromise antenna for small space, how do they get 8.3dBi or 6.16dBd gain out of two elements on 10m and 10.5dBi or 8.36dBd gain out of three elements on 6m? A really well designed no compromise two element Yagi might get 6.5dBi or 4.36dBd gain. Something smells wrong here.

Its cute and small for the bands it covers and will certainly make contacts but just know its probably not performing at the level of its advertising.
 

AK9R

Lead Wiki Manager and almost an Awesome Moderator
Super Moderator
Joined
Jul 18, 2004
Messages
10,045
Location
Central Indiana
And, don't lose sight of the fact that while 10m is hot right now, the current solar cycle will diminish in a few years and 10m will be all but dead again.
 

KJ6EPH

Newbie
Joined
Jun 11, 2024
Messages
3
This whole thing is more of a compromise, I am aware of that and it serves more to put out a precedence against the HOA and their Disney Land over-reach on private property of what you can and cannot do on your own property and backyard. This would be kind of one step to extend the reasonable accommodation of hams in their fight against HOAs here in Arizona.
By putting it on top of the patio roof, sitting maybe 2 feet above the visible border of the top of the roof, which blends the antenna with the house, is the compromise to get more than just a stupid wire with a max of 15' or less of the house height of the ground, it's about showing, that the next step would need to be a tower and getting their perception away from a forest of verticals and nobody wants that. If I can get these clowns to agree to that it's a huge win.

My question above is not an absolute judgment of the performance compared to something that would be 40 feet of the ground, free standing. I'm looking for input in regard to getting an improvement of these over 1/4, 1/2 or 3/4 wave verticals and I think this would do it. I'm trying to find somebody who maybe has or had these and can tell me if they are total crap in regard to built quality and/or performance and I might need to find maybe 2 element 10m Yagi and stack a 3 element 6m Yagi on top which would require higher stand off of the 10m above the roof top of the patio to clear the roof while rotating. A 10m Yagi will also reach over the edge of the patio that might make the approval process with the HOA more complicated since it is more visible to "my neighbors" (why would they stare at my roof line the whole day?!)
 

KJ6EPH

Newbie
Joined
Jun 11, 2024
Messages
3
And, don't lose sight of the fact that while 10m is hot right now, the current solar cycle will diminish in a few years and 10m will be all but dead again.

Wouldn't it make sense to have a gain antenna in this case to enjoy the ride as long as possible and help with using the band during the dark times :)
 
Top