The driver concentrates on handling the vehicle, while the DFer turns the beam and reads the meters. The DFer also handles maps and plotting, unless there is a third team member for that task. In the Los Angeles basin, most hunters use some sort of beam antenna. Three to five element quads are most popular. Yagis are second to quads in popularity.
Commercial models work fine, provided that the mast is attached at a good balance point.
Small-diameter loops are seldom used for RDF above 54 MHz because of their bidirectional pattern and low sensitivity. No matter which gain antenna is used, it is important that the mounting system allow for quickly changing polarization. Hiders can use any wave polarization on most hunts, so hunters must attempt to determine the correct polarization and hunt with it. Hunting a horizontal signal with a vertically polarized beam, for example, causes the direct signal to be attenuated. Hunters need sensitive mobile RDF setups for events like the All-Day hunts.