[Lowfer] Down with the old, and up with the new - Kinda long

[Andy - KU4XR]

Hi All:

" XR " has been off the air for awhile now due to a number of reasons, 
one being the antenna. I am in the process of replacing it, and I hope with another antenna that will at least be in the same state performance
wise as the old one. I spent more hours than I can count on that antenna,
and it was a performer, but extremely " High Maintenance " I was always
doing something to keep it up in the air. I used a lot of skyline to keep 
the top hat up, and tight, and was constantly replacing a run that broke
and could  be as long as 200 feet. I finally grew tired of the 
" maintenance efforts " and when the going on 3 years old " temporary " antenna began to sway, and bend over from UV exposure; I knew it was time
to either quit,or put up another antenna, and this time try to make it
more permanent.
So, with some help, I finally got the old antenna took down. And I started
constructing another one. This antenna will have a " square " top hat
using 10 foot cross arms with a 3 foot vertical pipe for tensioning the
cross arms and keep them from drooping. Everything that will be up there 
will be copper, except for the PVC cross arms. It has 24 horizontal wires,
each side being 5 foot in length, with a total from tip to tip of 10 feet.
and the tensioning is done by 10 foot sections of wire running up at a
45 degree angle, and thru a hole in the top of the vertical pipe, over to
the other cross arm. I have a total of 8 sloping wires in the tensioning
section of the top hat. So all together, there is 32 wires, at 5 foot 
length, and a circumference wire around the cross arms in the form of a
square. This job I soldered, ( no twisting of wires together ) I want this
one to stay up for a long time. I know there will start to be some sag as
the copper wire stretches, but I can deal with that. The masting this time
will be 2 inch, schedule #80 UV resistant PVC ( grey ) and a repaired
" A " Frame wooden mast that I hope to add about 4 extra feet to. This
will get the top at 32 feet AGL.
I am still in the thinking process on how to feed the top hat. A single
wire drop lead, or maybe a 2 wire drop lead, spaced about 6 inches apart
with plastic spacers ( sorta look like a ladder ) and joined together for
a single wire feeder at the bottom, and going to the loading coil. A wild
thought has occured; I have pondered on covering the 2 inch PVC with 
conductive aluminum tape such as the kind used in HVAC work. I don't know,
would this in essence then become a 2 inch aluminum mast ??? It may not
make one Iota of difference in performance, but other than the $ 8.00 for
the roll of tape; I don't see how it could hurt...Definitely a curious
thought on that one. Bonding of dissimmilar metals would be an issue there.
This antenna when finished, will be 35 feet from the end of the feedline
to the outer tip of the top hat, so it will be 13 feet shorter in wire
length than the previous antenna was at 48 feet. I had a mammouth top hat
on the old antenna with 13 wires at 18 foot in length. I hope the accepted
thought of many more short wires will out perform a few long wires.
This all remains to be seen if I eventually get the antenna up. Where I may
have a bust for an antenna will be; for the same height above ground, the 
top hat will be less than 1/3rd the size of the old antenna, and I hate to 
say it, but this will be the best I can do, and keep it to a one man job.
And as age continues to creep on, those jobs are getting smaller in size...
Well, here's to hoping that when finished, the thing will radiate a signal
past the end of the driveway..... I hope everyone is having a good summer,
73 to all for now :

Andy - KU4XR - EM75xr - Friendsville, TN. USA
LOWfer Beacon " XR " @ 185.29875 KHz ( QRSS-60 ) - TEMPORARILY OFF
Coordinates:  N:  35º 43' 54" - W:  84º 3' 16"
http://www.myspace.com/beaconxr