[MAMS] Wind, spinning yagi's

Tue Apr 5 18:46:24 EDT 2011

Stan, N8PJP, was a great machinist. He built all of it. Beautifully
built. Telescoping mast, trailer and all. Really nice portable set up.
Have no clue what happened to it. Yes, in today's market, it would
cost a ton. Sorry, I do not have any pix of it. Don't know of any
cheap, or affordable. However, I can suggest Rover Row at conferences.
Great place for seeing and exchanging ideas. I really liked how W9FZ
did it a few years ago at Chicago. Went from rover to rover, and had
us talk about things. How we were set up. I managed to record some of
it.

My Rover set up. 6M through 1296 are on rover. On a steerable mast.
This allows me to use a tight parking space, rather than have to aim
Rover with fixed antennas. And be in a large parking lot or field.
When I have a driver, I can operate full time. Rover was designed, so
I can set up on the top platform, and get above the corn fields. Small
shrubs, etc. Then I have one of two stands, I can use for the higher
bands. With advance planning, I can put them on top of Rover. Pipe
extention for the yagi array. Or, I can take my tall saw horse, and
run it portable. Put the 2M small yagi on top for link, and run that
way. Takes more than 10 Minutes of set up.

Also, with advance planning, I can set up under the cap on Rover, in
the rain, if it is not blowing too much. Yes, I do have the "Free"
Dayton Poncho, which I can put over equipment, and operate. As our New
England rover friends say. We must be prepared to operate anyway.

73, Lloyd NE8I/r
EN74 etc

On 4/5/11, Zack Widup <w9sz.zack at gmail.com> wrote:
> Great advice Lloyd! Do you know where N8PJP got the 70 foot extendable
> mast? Is there something like that currently available that doesn't
> cost an arm and a leg? Maybe I could build one? I'd settle for 30 or
> 40 feet. I don't think I need to go up 70 feet, at least on a hilltop
> where there are no trees, just corn and beans
>
> I usually put up two masts when portable on all bands in a contest.
> One has 50, 902 and 1296 on it and the other has 144, 222 and 432. The
> other bands are from the dish on a tripod.
>
> If I ever get a truck or van I have some ideas for antenna mounting.
> But for now it's the Corolla and I don't think I am going to mount the
> antennas to that unless I get a roof rack and do something like W9SNR
> does. That's pretty impressive, too. The only drawaback is that you
> have to rotate the car to rotate the antennas.
> :-)
>
> 73, Zack
>
>
> On Tue, Apr 5, 2011 at 1:28 PM, Lloyd Ellsworth <l10368r1 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Got reading this train. Some comments. Hey, lots of advice. Some I
>> actually use.
>>
>> What I learned years ago with big HF DX antenna arrays. You can't
>> really tighten them clamps enough to stop them from windmilling. Pin
>> them. Get them properly set up. Get out the drill motor, blast a hole
>> and then pin them with a bolt. Ya, not in the book. Ya, the holes will
>> eventually elongate. Cracks form too. Then the added stress. And
>> eventually lead to self destruction. Price of gain. With my rover
>> array, all the hours of 70 MPH winds, They are all pinned. Keep them
>> put. Then I add some guy ropes. Well, string. Then at each stop, level
>> the array. Keep those antennas on the horizon. In 12 years of use,
>> only lost one pinned yagi.
>>
>> Look at 3 more concerns.
>>
>> First. More clamps? If you have an end mount antenna, no big deal. In
>> the middle, you have a larger lump of metal, that could potentiall
>> help detune it. Loss of gain. They will still windmill. Then wind
>> pressure out of verticle.
>>
>> Second. 5 sections of RS tube. Wind pushes entire set up, out of
>> verticle. Even with guys. That includes many towers. Meaning antenna
>> is not looking at the horizon. Which require a pile more weights,
>> guys. Stuff to haul. Extra time to set up. Tear down. Not to mention
>> all the room they would require. These days, how many more gallons of
>> fuel. 20 years ago, N8PJP rover, built a nice trailer, with a 70 foot
>> extendable mast. As a VHF rover, worked great. Got over many of the
>> trees. 6 through 1296. On the ground, such as the Lake Shore, it is
>> nice to have an extra body, set of hands. to hold a large dish or
>> antenna in place. Keep it on the horizon. Or where it needs to be.
>> Rover drivers are great for this.  If your YL, MYL is willing. Works,
>> but usually there is an exchange involved.
>>
>> Third. Weight and occupied space vs small rover. Ya, in the winter, I
>> use a couple of sandbags. So, yes they are available for me. Usually
>> not expensive. Commonly available. OK, pick up here. I don't use
>> sandbags for the antenna stands. Bulky. I use 12V batteries. One
>> painful lesson learned early on. Always have extra battery power
>> available. Better to invest the extra bucks in a couple of extra
>> batteries. What can I say about keeping an eye open for sales? Usually
>> solves 2 problems. I use a car battery, in the shack. Yes, with
>> ventalation. then some wood, to protect against the acid drip. Part of
>> my test set up. Checks out the battery performance too. For smaller,
>> more fuel efficient rovers, space is a critical consideration. If not
>> the most important. How to best use available space. Then there is the
>> no holes, scratches etc issue. Lucky to run a piece of RG58, foam, in
>> the door. For the magmount. Then comes efficient packing, unpacking.
>> Setup and tear down time. Then as many know, the ideal goal is 3 to 10
>> minutes, during a contest. Becomes an art form.
>>
>>
>> 73, Lloyd NE8I/r
>> EN74 etc
>>
>>
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