beam boom : does it need to be perfectly straight?

[209 first class]

im putting up a 6 element in the next few days, before it goes up, how critical is it to have the boom perfectly straight so the elements are all in a level plane ? i will guess it matters but i have seen ham antennas with saggy booms before, so im hoping to hear your ideas. mine doesnt look really saggy from the side, but you can tell its not straight. looking down the boom however, it looks much more obvious it isnt straight. i saw a pic of a prime minista beam antenna this mornin, and noticed there was a large x brace and wire supports to keep it flat, i had not seen on another beam and that prompted my question 209

[316]

It really should be straight, but I have seen guys antennas that are 10-20 years old that are bent and nothing has changed there setup.
Good luck

[Mississippifrog]

What name brand 6 element antenna is it? Most beams over 4 elements long have wire supports running from the mast pole to the ends of the antenna.

[209 first class]

its a maco m106, it has the tension wires on it but it seems another set would be needed to get it really straight. 209

[drdx]

Unless it was crazy crooked, it will work fine, despite its looks. A yagi really "wants" to work and is pretty forgiving. I've seen some that actually had missing elements and still work fine, as long as it was just a director. -drdx