[QRP] QRP, Buddipole, and Recent antenna experiments

[tttt ccccc]

I agree with the "pulley" suggestion.  You may find a "clothesline"
pulley to be

the hot setup.  They are cheap, and made of some kind of white plastic,
about 3-4"

in diameter.  The "axle" is a bolt.  Give this bolt some grease and you
are in

business.  I've used this system for years and as the other guy said, it
sure makes

working on the antenna system easier!  Available at any decent hardware
store

or the "big box" home center.


Consider also using the 30' pole as a vertical.  With a suitable number
of radials,

it will be a dandy DX antenna on 40 and not awful on 80 or even 160 with
a matching

network at the base for the 2 lower bands.  The catch is that you have to
insulate

the base.


Rather than TV masting, have you thought about fence "rail?"  It comes in
20' tube

lengths, is galvanized and is of larger diameter than TV masting. 
Available at

Gnome Despot or Loooooows (HI!)  The catch is that you really have to be
careful

to bond the sections together (this goes for the TV masting as well,
should you

choose that method) as they will rust and do all kinds of bad things when
exposed

to an RF field.   Think about using stainless hardware (nuts, bolts,
"star washers"

and the like) or getting the sections welded (for electrical continuity,
not strength.)

Or, grind off the paint or galvanized coating and solder a jumper between
sections.

When you put the sections together, have the small "swaged" end face up. 
This 

will reduce the amount of water that gets inside.  Be sure to have a way
for the water

to exit the base of the mast as well.  Water that collects will rust away
the base and

if you live where it freezes, it will split.

Stay away from EMT (electrical metal tubing  often called "conduit") and
REALLY

stay away from aluminum EMT.  The steel stuff comes typically in 1/2" and
3/4"

diameters and if you listen closely, you can hear it rust....HI!  Not
suited for outdoor

use.  The aluminum stuff is very nearly "dead soft" so it can be easily
bent.  Not 

what you want, either.

Run to the library and get a copy of the ON4UN Low Band DX book. 
Contains so

much good stuff!!  Debunks long-held antenna myths and offers good
suggestions.

A reference you will use for years.  


73,

Tim  K3HX

QRV 1964

On Sun, 11 Jul 2004 21:50:11 -0700 (PDT) Daniel Reynolds
<aa0ni at yahoo.com> writes:
> My latest plans include a 30' telescoping TV mast that will be guyed 
> with
> non-conductive lines. It will be centrally located on the lot (just 
> behind the
> house). With it, I should be able to run a 66 or 88 ft doublet fed 
> with 300 Ohm
> TV twinlead. At 30' up, it should be up high enough to keep the 
> antenna pretty
> efficient (compared to ground losses at 10' and below). It won't be 
> much of a
> DX antenna except maybe on 15-10m. On 80/40/30m, I pretty much want 
> NVIS
> capability for local and regional nets.
> 
> I appreciate the ideas, and am glad to see that they run along the 
> same lines
> that I've come up with.
> 
> 72/73!
> Daniel / AA0NI
> 
> --- w5xe at juno.com wrote:
> > Hello Daniel.  I went thru and re-read your posting
> > concerning your new location and antenna possibilities.
> > Living in a mobile home and for many years my 90 ft long
> > yard was divided in half by a utility drop to a neighboring
> > space.  In addition, I had a pole with transformer
> > and drop lines along two other sides of the space
> > which made using any kind of high wire antenna almost
> > impossible.  What I did was find the furtherest point
> > where I could erect a pushup mast, and then put
> > the wire antenna as a sloping vee toward the ends of
> > the yard which gave me pretty good capability with
> > a 100 ft dipole type antenna.  If you can put a small 
> > (10 ft fibreglass?) mast on the center area of your roof, 
> > maybe if you have a chimney to mount it to or a sewer vent,
> > and string one of the W4RNL described 44 ft dipoles
> > fed with 450 line - they do get high praise from many.
> > 66 ft might work also, with a tuner all bands should
> > be possible.  Getting the feed point up and away from
> > the mettalic items you describe will help a lot.  Just
> > some ideas, maybe you have already thought of them.
> > Here, I have a low, v shaped 100 ft dipole and a 80-10 mtr 
> > vertical system.  An old saying - if you can't go out, go up.
> > 
> > 73 and good luck
> > Ray, W5XE
> > Governments have never learned anything from history, 
> > or acted on principles deduced from it: 
> > Hebbel : German poet and dramatist, 1813-1863 
> > Ray Colbert, W5XE, OOTC#3618, SOWP#1064M NARTE-NCT2R 
> > FP-111 GQRP 6115QRP-ARCI 5784  El Paso,(FAR WEST)TEXAS
> > _______________________________________________
> > QRP mailing list
> > QRP at mailman.qth.net
> > http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/qrp
> > 
> 
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