recently had some work done on the roof and there is a new UHF TV antenna put up (my mum likes her telly) and a Band II omni on the mast (you can’t get 5/7 ele yagis outside Denmark and I have not seen a rotator (that you also need; as this antenna is directional) for 25 years…

I had previously been using this Yagi to monitor ICR-FM although it was the wrong way round (it was pointed to Manningtree where the main Arqiva mast is); the dude who put up the new ones understood exactly why I wanted certain bits of the old ones (got one receiving half of Manchesters pagers at the moment) and some kind old chaps on another forum explained how I could cut down and respace the elements for the VHF marine frequencies (these are on 156-162 MHz so the wavelength is shorter and the antenna will end up smaller than before).

it only took a small bit of work with a hacksaw; drill and some gaffer tape (as all the bolts were well seized and I had to re-drill some holes to get the position correct) -it is unlikely to hold up to the particularly rough weather outside but works well in the roofspace (it is pointed in the direction of the Orwell and North Sea) andf can reliably monitor Coastguard, Sunk VTS and Harwich signals as well as the local port operations raaa