Here’s the 4 element 100g yagi that I’ve been using for years. Wouldn’t change it for any kind of glass, tumbler or other drinking vessel.
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I’m after the design of yagi that’s as easy to build as the hourglass.
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Seems to me, for light-weight portable use, something that’s quick to deploy and packs away easily has an advantage. That’s what makes slim jims and the like handy. Once you’ve made one and spent a while fiddling with its tuning then it’s likely to stay adequately adjusted, and just needs unrolling, hanging from the mast (or whatever) and connecting to the rig. The hourglass appears to offer a similar degree of ease of use. A yagi’s going to be just a bit more faff, which is fine if you want the extra bang it brings to the party and can deal with the small extra setup inconveniences.
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Not really. I can build it in 30 seconds and attach it to my handheld. I’ll be on the air quicker than you with your slim-jim and mast.
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Page 113 of backyard Antennas by Peter Dodd, simple 3el beam that can be knocked up in less than an hour. Dimensions given for 2m and 70cm.
404: We’re sorry, things break sometimes
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The Italian 1010g antenna is a wonderfully clever design that collapses and packs away easily. The G3LDO design page 113 does not look like something that collapses easily.
No, but it is really quick and easy to build. The 70cm version is reasonably packable strapped to the back of a rucksack.
I’m reading the pdf right now.
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This is the correct link: 2M Yagi Antenna : 5 Steps - Instructables
I think you left off the https
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Especially, if like me, you add 70cm elements perpendicular to the 2m ones. 
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Something that has become obvious to me, regarding the choice of antennas for SOTA, is that many SOTA activators in Europe seem to have far more experience using 2m than those of us on the other side of the world.
To illustrate this point, I started activating SOTA in February 2012 and have made 7281 QSOs. Up to the end of 2025 I had made, ironically, 144 QSOs on 2m.
So far this year, thanks to the 2026 SOTA challenge, I have logged 234 QSO on 2m. I have tried 4 different 2m antennas, and I guess at the end of the challenge, I’ll look back and know what antenna worked best, and what antenna was just not worth the effort.
But for now, the hourglass antenna is in the backpack and ready for the next hike up a hill.
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I remember watching someone put an Arrow dual-band one together a while back, and it seemed like quite a lot of faff, but then it had elements for 70cms as well as 2m. I can see I’m going to have to build an IZ2UUF style 2m one if only to see whether it is that simple to deploy. Pretty sure I have a suitable fibre-glass mast section kicking about somewhere, but the necessary TIG rods will have to come off the Net. I expect I’ll get an hourglass made sooner, though, as all the necessary bits are to hand.
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For cheap and easy to use, this is one of my favorites:
Just solid copper house wiring stuck through holes in the wood mast. I bend the wires parallel to the boom for transport. Article here. Weighs 280g with a short coax jumper and an extra wood piece at the back end to mount the radio.
Next step to reduce the weight is to use plastic water pipe and the connector blocks as shown in the photo in the article, along with aluminium TIG welding rods. If the pipe is jointed, then the whole mess should fit in a package about 50cm long, with the half-elements inside the boom.
For vertical polarization, the elements can just slip through holes in the boom up to some sort of stop in the center (perhaps a bend in the wire, or a wrap of tape). But it is prone to fall out for horizontal polarization if the antenna tips a bit. I also have some pipe clips (for holding a water pipe to the bottom of the flooring for under-floor heating systems) that I can add to the elements so they just snap onto the boom. Just a matter of acquiring the proverbial “Round Tuit”.
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Hi Ian, not considering 70cm. Happy with just 2m. 
Geoff vk3sq
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I built an hour glass antenna for 2m. On its first activation it went up OK but I got no QSOs. It was on my local summit that I’ve already activated on 2m SSB this year so perhaps no one was bothered about working me again.
On its second summit it came out of its bag as a tangle of wires so I didn’t bother. Probably due to my incompetence in construction and deployment.
So not having great success with it so far!
My original plan was to build a yagi and will probably still do this. I am concerned about the practicalities though. In yesterday’s activation I was sat some distance from the mast. This is fine with most antennas I use but if it’s directional then even I don’t have arms long enough to rotate the mast to point it the right way.
Vertical is working quite well for SSB so far.
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…keep trying Richard to build the hourglass antenna, I’m very happy with mine. Good luck in the build 
Geoff vk3sq
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I’ve remade the hourglass. Drilled some holes so I could cable tie the wire to the plastic tubes which should keep everything in the right place. Fingers crossed I get a QSO next time…
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When we next see some:
I’ll try get a QSO with you!
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Time to get this thread back on track..
On Friday I activated Mt Ginini VK1/AC-008 1760m ASL and IMHO I achieved excellent results with an overall gain of 1300 km in 2m Dx contacts.
14 stations worked with notable contacts as far as 415 km, all on a 2m hourglass antenna at 6m above ground.
VK1AD SOTA station at Mt Ginini @ 07:19 am 1 May.
SOTA map
Andrew VK1AD
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That’s class! Very well done. What kind of power were you throwing out there?