[50mhz] PAR OA-50s

[Brian McClure]

Chris,

I have had my Par OA50 for almost a year and it has performed
flawlessly.  It has survived ice, snow, wind, and rain with no loss in
performance.  I've not had to mess with it since I put it up.

I'm sure there is a way to beef-up the joint at the main boom, but I
have not seen a need to as of yet.

If I were going to try and do it, I would check into getting a second
set of aluminim arms and threading them where they pass through the
boom.  You could then put a stainless steel nut on each side and
tighten it down onto the boom.  It would be a bit more work than
simply drilling the boom and adding a screw, but using the threaded
rod method would not require modifying the boom.


just my 2.5 cents worth.

73
Brian
N8PQI
FM26as


On Sun, 6 Feb 2005 12:07:57 -0600, Chris Boone <CBoone at earthlink.net> wrote:
> Got my two OA-50s in (yeah!)....when assembling them I see how quickly that
> can be taken apart for rover use...but the "press" fit on the end of the
> elements where the mounting boom holds them is a little disappointing to me,
> at least in fixed operation. I donot intend to use these for rover but
> rather in a fixed position at about 150-250ft AGL on a remote base so I want
> to make sure they stay together...(homebrewing the OA would be too easy but
> I suspect the major portion of the cost ($69) must be the matching
> network/balun box; otherwise, I don't see the money in the tubing and
> hardware...Hmmmm I may take it to the x ray machine and see what is in
> there..I would think a dipole longer than 1/2 wave would be higher in
> terminal Z than 10 ohms?! More like 100ohms but PAR states its 10ohms+90j ??
> That has to be a misprint)
> 
> Has anyone done a modification to strengthen the joints on the OA? I am
> think maybe a small screw through the boom to hold the element rods
> tight....
> 
> Hope to have them up here at the house later today to test and maybe catch a
> band opening!
> 
> Chris
> WB5ITT
> 
> Moderator: Ray Brown, KB0STN
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