Cushcraft A503s 3 Element 6m Yagi

After a pitiful qso with LY2BAW on 50.112cw and ssb, it became apparent to me that the Cushcraft antenna is "crap".
Never purchase this yagi unless you want to use it to open a 6 meter repeater 10 km away from your QTH.

Next summer, the truck lift is coming and we are putting up the 6M2WLC by M2 inc.
here is the low down.

The 6M2WL was conceived and designed to produce maximum gain and performance around 50.1 MHz. Countless hours of computer optimization and range confirmation resulted in an antenna which will set a new standard for long boom Yagis. It is an excellent stand alone antenna but for the adventurous, it is a perfect building block for spectacular 6 meter gain package.The driven element is a 3/4" diameter tube for improved efficiency and bandwidth, fed by a 'T' match with adjustable shorting bars. Stainless screws lock the joints together. The T match block is CNC-machined and internal connections are sealed with a space-age silicone gel with dielectric strength nearly 4 times greater than air. All three connectors feature 'O' ring seals. The balun cable features double seals; one at the cable and one inside the connector where it mates with the female. This match block configuration was developed at M2 for shipboard ATS satellite use and is now used on all our amateur Yagis.The parasitic element design meets the stringent requirement for extreme durability consistent with minimal windload and visibility. Elements are a solid rod of 1/4 6061-T6 aluminum rod with a 3/8 x 36 center reinforcing sleeve, double crimp-locked to the rod. The elements pass through the rugged boom and are insulated with special UV stabilized button insulators designed to dampen vibrations and prolong element life. Elements are locked in place with stainless steel keepers. Thousands of these elements are currently in service in large commercial arrays with ZERO failures to date!

I love 6 meters. Actually Love is not nearly a strong enough word. I cant get enough of 6 meter dxing.

Years ago, I became very frustrated with a local ham operator who has the impression that more power is better. He would constantly use a kilowatt on HF to have a QSO with local stations with 400-600km.

When I asked why he thought it was necessary to use so much power he replied "because my station should sound good".

From that day on, I decided that the monkey mentality you find on HF these days was sickening for Ham Radio.

Enter 6m, the magic band.

It will take you much more than buying an amplifier to work DX on 6 meters. That band was spawned in some sick realm which is found someplace between HF and VHF but harnessing characteristics from both. It can be dark and lifeless one moment while opening up in a furry the next. 6 meters is for the Dxer who needs to take anti-obsessing drugs to keep him from staying in the shack for 24 hours at a time trying to understand how and when the band with show us its voodoo magic.

I am currently using a 3 element Cushcraft Yagi on 6 meters but I hope that in the comings years, I will be able to replace that Yagi with a 5 element multi-band yagi which includes some HF functionality as well.

Although I love 6 meters, I have also recently found 17 meters QRP operation which is very interesting to me to say the least.

HF contesting is a waste of time and energy with the monkey mentality found there, hopefully there will be some good old fashioned hams who like the QSO as much as they like the challenge of hunting down the DX.