Short test drive
The Arrow antenna that I recently purchased arrived jut in time to not be used due to family Christmas parties and bitter cold. But I had enough waiting to try my new gear and took it along with me for a quick afternoon snow shoe hike.
With it still on the colder side and short on time, I did a fast and simple test. I tried to hit an area repeater with a 5 watt hand held. First I used one of my 2m / 70cm Signal Stick antennas. As suspected, I did not get a response from the repeater. This was expected since I have not been able to reach that repeater from the same location with a hand held before.
Then I connected the Arrow and pointed in the general direction and had success. Report was my signal was a little light but full quieting. Success!
More 2 meters from the field
One thing I've been off and on trying to do while on hikes and POTA / SOTA activations is to hop on 2 meters more. Too often, I just plain forget to give 2 meters a try. However many times when I do, I'm at a location where I can reach a repeater.
My logic is to try to reach someone on a repeater. Then if I get someone, and they have the time and interest, we could try simplex. Figure I might have a better shot at making 2m contacts on simplex for SOTA and POTA if I get some attention on an area repeater first.
Having a Yagi antenna, like the Arrow may help me dial in those distant repeaters and simplex stations.
First impressions: impressive
Now the Arrow and similar commercially available Yagi antennas occasionally get the criticism for being overpriced. "I could build one cheaper" is often seen in the comments of any review you see online for a store bought antenna.
I won't argue with this criticism. I am certain many, many people could build this very antenna much cheaper. Some of them could build it just as good or even better. I'm not one of them.
I don't have the patience, nor am I willing to make the time to make an antenna like the Arrow. I prefer to pay the cost of having someone else build it right the first time for me.
When I took the antenna components out of the box, I saw right away that someone did indeed take the time to build this thing right.
All the components looked good. No dents, dings, or scratches from construction. Everything fit together right, with no need to fine tune on my end. It was just done right.
Simple to setup in the field. Simple to use. Just as important, quality construction that should treat me well for a very long time.
You will be seeing a lot more of this antenna
I can't wait to use this antenna more. It will be going out with me on as many radio outings as possible. Besides 2 meter simplex contacts for SOTA and POTA, the other focus will be experimenting with 2 meters SSB.
I currently only know a few people in my area that have the capabilities for 2 meter SSB, but this is something that has my interest. My first and so far only in person exposure to 2 meter SSB was at an ARRL Field Day event. I was very impressed by the distances covered with a fairly modest setup. It showed me a lot of potential for Ecomm applications with the right group of people and the right equipment.