Here's one that I ran across today and found interesting.
I wonder if they have built the prototype?
73
Jeff
I wonder if they have built the prototype?
73
Jeff
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$1000 PDL II clone
- Thread starter AudioShockwav
- Start date
Snake oil, besides that antenna gain is not in dB 
Yep Mike, that gain figure looks like slightly inflated DBi, I think a two element quad is a little less than 4 DB over a dipole.Snake oil, besides that antenna gain is not in dB
I used to have a PDL II many years ago and it was a decent little antenna for the size of it.
73
Jeff
They don't mention what the "array of high-performance features" actually are. "Co-Inductive"?? Like Mike said, snake-oil.
Here's another Quad option, minus the snake oil, all tubing, 50 ohm feed, 10 or 11m, by a real antenna company, at half the price.
https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/iva-18487-0021#overview
https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/iva-18487-0021#overview
The PDL-II was designed when antenna design didn't fully understand quad and loop antennas.
Both the PDL-II and Maco V-Quad had both loops exactly the same external dimensions.
This used to be thought to be important.
Later it was found that the reflector loop could be physically larger around.
The loop spacing on the PDL -II is very close.
Maybe not bad in itself, but doesn't seem optimized.
I have seen a couple of sources claim that despite the driven loop looking like a full wave loop, its gamma match feed actually has it tuned or acting as a folded half wave element, with a quad loop reflector.
When these two antennas were designed, it was falsely thought that loop antennas didn't gain much by having more than two elements.
It has since been found that loop antennas gain as much from additional elements as Yagi antennas do.
Modern loop antennas use different size loops for the different elements.
The Maco Y-Quad (not the V-Quad) usually has a wider frequency range than the PDL-II and Maco gamma match might be slightly easier to tune.
I do like true quad loop antennas though.
Both the PDL-II and Maco V-Quad had both loops exactly the same external dimensions.
This used to be thought to be important.
Later it was found that the reflector loop could be physically larger around.
The loop spacing on the PDL -II is very close.
Maybe not bad in itself, but doesn't seem optimized.
I have seen a couple of sources claim that despite the driven loop looking like a full wave loop, its gamma match feed actually has it tuned or acting as a folded half wave element, with a quad loop reflector.
When these two antennas were designed, it was falsely thought that loop antennas didn't gain much by having more than two elements.
It has since been found that loop antennas gain as much from additional elements as Yagi antennas do.
Modern loop antennas use different size loops for the different elements.
The Maco Y-Quad (not the V-Quad) usually has a wider frequency range than the PDL-II and Maco gamma match might be slightly easier to tune.
I do like true quad loop antennas though.
Horizontal Full Wavelength Loops also make excellent Driven Elements for Yagis. Typically a bit quieter and 50ish ohm feedpoints when parasitic elements are added.
Vertical full loops make good reflectors for Yagi antennas, because their angle of radiation is lower.
That's the main reason for the Moonraker type antennas.
Vertical is popular in CB and not so much in ham radio.
A horizontal dipole starts out as bidirectional, while a vertical dipole is omni-directional.
A horizontal yagi often has more gain than a vertical yagi, but a vertically polarized full wave loop is bidirectional, which makes it start out stronger as part of a directional antenna than a vertical yagi element.