[Lowfer] XFX update

[Eric KD5UWL]

Hi, all,

I'm beginning to wonder if this will be up before the season draws to a 
close, but I am making progress.  Alot of my holdup has been "expendable" 
cash, but that is beginning to open up.

I've bought everything I need so far except for the PVC I'm using for the 
end poles, halyard hardware, and ropes (lines).  I'll be using 3" ID PVC 
and I found a local supplier who will deliver (for free) 20' sections 
instead of the 10' sections I used for UWL.  I like this because there 
will be fewer joints and the per foot cost is lower.

It should be much easier to erect these poles because they will have 
nothing on them but the pulleys and associated lines when they go up.  My 
LowFER vertical was more of a challenge to raise because of the top 
loading being so heavy.  Fewer joints should help, too.

Currently I'm working on the HV insulators which are just like the ones 
Ralph W5JGV built ... I've already cut and formed the corona rings and 
about 1/3 are completed.  These are 1/4" tubing with .025" copper sheet 
spokes - again, they look just like the W5JGV ones.

The design is:

The poles are about 30' apart -- about the max I could go and have room 
for guys and anchors -- and 45' tall.  Spreaders are 3' lengths of 1.25" 
square aluminum tubing.  Two pulleys at the top of each pole will attach 
to the spreaders ... one pulley to one end of a spreader and the other 
pulley to the other end using eye bolts and electric fence insulators 
(which are kind to the ropes).  The electric fence insulators will be 
attached to the eye bolts with the stainless steel safety wire that has 
worked so well for UWL.

On the flattop side of the spreaders will be 3 eye bolts each a foot 
apart.  The W5JGV-style HV insulators will be attached to these eye bolts 
with their own eyes.

The flattop and vertical elements will be of 14 AWG stranded copper THHN 
which I've already bought.  The flattop elements will terminate at the HV 
insulators.

The vertical element that will drop from the center flattop element will 
attach to the loading coil via another HV insulator.  The attachment at 
the insulator is for mechanical strength so that as the wind blows the 
antenna around it won't put any stress on the loading coil.

The loading coil will be elevated to about 8' above ground, mounted on a 
post.  The post will either extend above the loading coil where the HV 
insulator will be located to attach the vertical element, or the insulator 
will be on the post below the loading coil such that the vertical element 
will drop down to that insulator and then up into the coil enclosure.  I 
haven't worked out the details of this part yet.  Something doesn't seem 
right about the vertical element extending below the loading coil and then 
back up to it, but it seems that is the way Ralph did it, and I guess you 
could tune for it.  Any ideas/concerns/comments/flames about this part?

The ground will extend from the cold end of the loading coil, through the 
interior of the post down to ground level, and then out to the ground 
system.

The end result will (hopefully) be about a 26' long flattop section, 42' 
high.

Any comments or suggestions welcome.

I hope to have the poles delivered next week, and hopefully on the air the 
week after that -- say by 2/15.  This is MUCH later than I'd hoped for.

I'll try to get some pictures of the hardware I've built so far posted 
asap.

73
Eric