M2 Antennas 2M5WL
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| Frequency | 144-148 MHz per the maker page; optimized for the bottom of the band |
| Bands | 2m (lower half - SSB/CW weak-signal territory) |
| Gain | 16.8 dBi (~14.6 dBd) per M2 dBi |
| TX power | 1500 W (1.5 kW) |
| Modes | FM, SSB, CW, digital |
| Connector | N female; T-match feed, 50-ohm unbalanced, max VSWR 1.2:1 (factory table) |
| feedpoint | T-match; N female |
Estimated (unverified): element count (17 is the universally cited figure, consistent with the design, but the manual's spec block doesn't print it as a line item)
Maximum legal 2 m performance from a single feedline: five wavelengths of optimized boom is where single-Yagi gain tops out, and M2's machined-parts construction culture (CNC fittings, documented torques, EME-grade hardware) is built for antennas that live in the weather pointed at the moon. For tropo, meteor scatter, and EME entry, this is the reference long Yagi.
A 33-foot boom is a structure, not an accessory: truss, guys, a serious rotator, and a helper are all assumed, and the narrow weak-signal optimization makes it the wrong purchase for FM or casual use. M2's own stacking arithmetic undercuts it honestly - two short beams equal it in gain - so the long boom buys feedline simplicity, not magic.
The single-feedline summit of 2 m weak-signal: buy it when stacking hardware, phasing lines, and twin rotator loads sound worse than one long, well-trussed boom. Casual VHFers should start two sizes smaller.
The 2M5WL is what the end of the single-Yagi road looks like on two meters: seventeen elements spread along five wavelengths - thirty-three feet - of tapering boom, rated by the factory at 16.84 dBi - 14.70 dBd, with the manual doing the subtraction for you - and 'tailored for the lower half of two meters where horizontal polarity and sideband / CW are the common modes,' as its own installation notes put it. Past this length, the gain-per-boom curve flattens and the serious operators start stacking; M2's own catalog says so with unusual honesty, noting that two of its nine-element SSB beams, vertically stacked, yield 14.8 dBd against this antenna's 14.70 at less than half the 18-foot-9-inch turning radius. The 2M5WL exists for the operator who would rather manage one feedline and one truss than four phasing harnesses.
It comes from the right bloodline. M2 Antenna Systems was founded by Mike Staal - the 'M' in KLM, whose tribanders once pushed Hy-Gain to invent the TH-7DX - and the company's Fresno shop has equipped EME and contest stations for decades with CNC-machined parts and manuals that document torque values like the aerospace suppliers they resemble. The 2M5WL's construction details follow that culture: T-match feed into an N female at a maximum VSWR of 1.2:1, 1.5 kW rating, thirteen pounds of antenna presenting 2.7 square feet to a rated 100 mph - and the boom truss (riser, turnbuckles, Dacron) supplied in the box rather than sold as a confession afterward.
The buyer's question is honest geometry: a 33-foot boom swings a circle bigger than most rooftops, wants a rotator with real torque, and pays off only in the horizontal, low-end-of-the-band world of SSB, CW, meteor scatter, and moonbounce. For FM and vertical work its vertically-polarized cousins are the right tool; for the weak-signal operator stepping up from the Boomer class, this is the next - and nearly the last - rung before the antenna farm goes plural.