Right picked up a zl beam its a 2m 8 element its made by a company called elite aerials was told the maker is sk now but instructions are vague on how to connect co-ax its telling me on its very vague instructions to wire straight to the 1st element block and that's it but a few sites are saying they need a short stub for swr on the second feed it has the x-over in-between the 2 feed points but over than that rest of instructions are how to assemble it.
Just like to know correct way of feeding it was told it would be a good aerial for doing sat work so hoping it is.

many thanks

Hope this may help?

http://www.hamuniverse.com/gi6jpozl-special.pdf

It's the original article from Practical Wireless in 77 by the designer Fred Judd G2BCX and in their supplement 'Out of thin Air' which I still have, it's got the phasing and stub information - hopefully you can use it on yours if it's been made using one of Judds drawings

Obviously quite an old design now, there are many better about - but it does work.
73 Kelvin

Feed second driven element DR2 with 50R coax, about 330mm of 300R twin feeder between DR1 and DR2 crossed over so both elements are driven out phase.
I use about 6" of RG8 mini coax connected in parallel with the junction of the main coax feeder on DR2 - cut in small snips to lower VSWR.

Cheers

Rob.

Awesome review but still confused it says zl need no reflector mine has 1 it goes 6 elements driven driven and then reflector and instructions say drive the front elements and the others run from a x-over from 1st to 2nd reflector just a little confused as it has same setup as the zl specials from moonraker but has no mention of needing a stub but a lot on the web say they need a stub.
confused
and rob mine has a x-over in place already and instructions say feed dr1 and leave dr2 alone so many idea's surrounding this

If the cross over feed is already in place from feed point driven element to out of phase rear driven reflector element then follow the instructions, however vague, and connect co-ax to the point mentioned!
The inclusion of a stub may or may not prove necessary, dependant on what match you get when connecting up simply as the instructions suggest!
You say it has has an extra "reflector", behind the rear fed out of phase normal ZL reflector, is this passive and "floating", or also driven in some way?
I have used ZL's before, from a few sources, and none of mine included an extra passive reflector behind the rear driven one, but thats just what I have encountered, yours is obviously designed differently, and maybe a manufacturer mod to improve front to back?

Hi dave have taken a pic but have no clue on how to upload it. right rear config is dr1 x cable to dr2 and at rear a reflector which uses same mounting as all the directors ie full electrical contact to boom.
instructions say bare 1 inch of outer and same of inner on co-ax and direct connect to driven points making sure that centre is driving the same as the plastic coated x-over and outer to outer x-over.
I will try just connecting feed direct and seeing what the swr is across the band and if it is ok I will leave it if not then will have to stub it and see if that helps.
thanks for the help

To upload a picture choose the file and add the file as per the input page.

The antenna sounds very odd.
ZL do not have a reflector.

Cheers

Tony

Was told it was a zl style due to having 2 feed lines

I have to say I have no idea what make that is, it looks almost homebrew?
And its the first time I have ever seen a ZL "style" antenna, with an extra rear passive reflector, perhaps Steve might have come across a similar design before?

Indeed it looks like a ZL, hasn't got the phasing arrangement of a HB9CV.
I'd just start with the crossover feed between the two driven elements first and see what the match is like before trying a stub.

I've seen designs using passive reflectors - even trigonal!, and also directors on 9CV's to improve f/b and directivity, guess it'll also be an improvement in this case over the original design.

ZR6YY??

That certainly looks like the type of design indeed!

This has dimensions for 6 meters, but design style is same:
http://www.uksmg.org/content/zr6yy.htm

Not one I have ever used or built myself.

It says make is elite on speaking to the person who sold it to me he said its was a design by this bloke but he is now sk so no idea of callsign but it came with proper printed instructions and was sealed in a decent plastic bag and was boxed up properly so maybe a cottage industry aerial.
Build quality is good boom is a little slim compared to my other 2m beams but has a support bar to stop any droop.

It does seem to be a version of the ZR6YY design, made for 2 meters.
In the article about the design of the antenna, it makes no mention of requiring a stub, and says does not require a bulun either, and advises connecting 50 ohm cable direct to the suggested feedpoint, so I think you will be fine just hooking the co-ax up!

On looking I have got the driven placements wrong it should be reflector then dr1 then dr2 then director this is getting even more weird to work out