[NLRS] 6m rover antennas

[Bruce Richardson]

Yes, we're getting to the nut of the problem.  As a new rover, I used a
4-ele beam about 6 feet off the ground :-) .  Then, some kind gents had much
this same discussion with me.  My solution was to switch to a dipole
(armstrong rotatable) that I would put up 15' minimum and 20' when winds
permitted.  As you'll recall, I used to operate with the "roof rack" type of
rover antennas.  Adding the ability to put up 15+' of masting was quite a
deal.  While I was never loud, I frequently completed q's by answering in
CW.  The other ops seemed to hear what they needed to hear.

I had two arms coming off the side of the wooden rack that held the yagis.
The top arm had a two U bolts that the masting turned in loosely.  Each was
aligned vertically over something in the bottom arm.  The bottom arm was a
2x4 wide dimension up.  I had a complete hole bored through when I was in a
situation where I would not be turning the car.  If I was going to be
turning the car, I had a hole 1/2 of the depth of the 2x4 in which the
masting would rest.  This worked only for the very slow speeds of turning
the car.  It really wasn't secure enough for moving 300 yards to a new grid.
If I was not going to be turning the car, having the masting pass through
the hole in the lower arm right on down to the ground really helped for
stability in winds.

The top arm was 3.5 to 4' above the lower arm.  That much moment arm would
not take a lot of wind--but it was enough.  The setup time of the dipole and
masting sections (usually 5' increments) went fast enough.  I think 4
elements would have taken too long for what I had in mind.  Further, I don't
know if my supporting system could have taken the loading of a 4ele beam in
some of the winds I experienced.

I used RG-8X as my coax and ran a 160w brick.  Set up and takedown of this
dipole and then stowing the pieces within the rack were the toughest part of
winter roving.

Good luck and sounds like you are headed in the right direction.



Bruce Richardson - W9FZ

Thanks for coming to the Milwaukee CSVHFS conference.  See you in Tulsa in
'03 http://www.csvhfs.org