[Lowfer] active antenna elements

[Douglas D. Williams]

Well, as luck would have it, I managed to break my Clifton Labs
(supplied) 10' telescoping antenna element off at the base yesterday, while
installing another 10' section of mast. These telescoping antenna elements
are outsourced from Buddipole. I found out that they seem to be quite weak
at the base, and I now notice that Buddipole offers, for an additional $5,
a "knurled base sleeve" that is supposed to strengthen the base, which
leads me to believe that I am not the first one to break one of these.

I was quite eager to get back to listening, so I decided to see what good
old "Rat Shack" had to offer. Turns out that have a 102" stainless steel
"CB whip" antenna for $27 that has the standard 3/8" x 24 threads that fit
the Clifton Labs base unit and pretty much every CB antenna mount since the
dawn of time.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2102428

It rained all day today, but when I got home from work it had slacked off
to a drizzle, so, of course, I "went for it". Got the extra 10' of mast
installed, 20' total (two 5' sections and one 10' section, all slatherd
with GB Ox-Guard at the joins. Got the base of the antenna up to 20', which
makes, with the 102" element, the tip of the whole thing up about 28.5
feet. Attached the base of the mast to an 8' ground rod with a short piece
of solid copper about the width of a pencil.

Prime canidate for a lighting strike, especially when the man I hired comes
in a week or two to clear all the trees out.

Seems to work great so far, considering there are thunderstorms a-brewing
tonight.

I just laid the coax on the ground for now. Will "staple" it later this
week. I like this method, since the grass grows over it in a few months,
and it is still easy to pull back up later on.


-Doug KB4OER