[TVARC] New flagpole with 6-BTV antenna at K8XR

Mon Apr 29 22:41:52 EDT 2024

Beautiful work Larry.  Very well  done, and superbly documented.  I know your hard work will be rewarded with lots of DX, and 5-9+ QSOs.

FWIW, here are some lessons learned from my 6-BTV flagpole experience:

1.  I sourced my PVC from SiteOne Landscaping Supply in Leesburg, purchasing a 20 ft section of 2.5” CL200.  This class of PVC, used for irrigation, has a thin wall and is much lighter than hardware store PVC.  It comes in white and purple.  Don’t accidentally buy the purple, like I did.  :-(

2.  Acetone will easily remove the manufacture’s stamped lettering from the PVC

3.  After two attempts, I discarded the flagpole cap due to severe arcing on 80 meters (see photo).  I was only running 600 watts CW.

Again, a terrific job.  One you can be very proud of.

73,
Rusty - W3US

> On Apr 28, 2024, at 22:27, Larry Sheridan <larry10782 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> 
> Howdy all:
> 
> As requested, pix of the new flagpole antenna here at K8XR in The Villages FL.  Many thanks to 
> the TVARC club members & others who volunteered their knowledge & tips on flagpole antennas.
> 
> A lot of test-fitting to see what would work with what, started out with 2" white PVC,
> soon learned that -
>  - standard Hustler clamps won't fit in 2" PVC, ears are too long
>  - standard heater hose clamps fit in 2" but then the traps won't slide in
>  - have to go to 2-1/2" PVC which is a special order item due to low demand
>  - 3" PVC would work & be cheaper but want to keep the weight & wind-loading down
> 
> First order of 2-1/2" was eBay, lotsa $$$, opened box to find transparent PVC (!)  Would
> work OK but not very low-profile, used it for the test-fits, these were 8' lengths.  For final
> build, ordered white 2-1/2", ended up with (2) 20' lengths (!) from Ace Hardware, used 1.
> 
> 2-1/2" PVC ends up being a nice slip-fit down over the 6-BTV, the hose clamps are staggered
> around the joints such that the antenna is kept centered in the PVC & thus centered over the
> mount pipe, to minimize or eliminate any tendency to lean.  The 2-1/2" is also a slip-fit over the
> high-power 75M resonator, using 2" would require the use of the low-power mobile coil. 
> 
> None of the components in this system - 6-BTV, DXE tilt base, etc - are designed for a flagpole's
> weight & wind-loading, so additional strengthening was added everywhere it was feasible -
>  - the ground mounting pipe was upsized to 2" galvanized steel, set 40"' in the ground concrete
>  - the DX Engineering tilt base frame was drilled to take a third clamp to the ground mounting pipe
>  - the Hustler antenna base & DXE tilt bracket were drilled to use 8 bolts for assembly instead of 4
>  - the Hustler base had 3/16" aluminum side straps Heliarc weld added to make it into a channel section
>  - the DXE optional double-wall tubing first pipe section on the base was ordered & installed    
> 
> The beefing-up of the Hustler base is to accommodate the weight of the PVC pipe, which just rests
> on the top of the base but is not attached or fastened down, the 2-1/2" coupler is a slip-fit over the
> base top insulator & centers the PVC assembly on the base.
> 
> The rest of the assembly & installation was straightforward & followed the DXE instructions and
> recommendations with the exception of the ground radials, we used 17 gauge galvanized steel
> electric fence wire, strong & cheap, $35 for a 1/4 mile spool, almost a lifetime supply.  I prepped
> the wire with a few knife strokes to thin the zinc, then crimp & solder the ring terminal.  Gail did a
> lot of the radial placement work, ended up using a battery lawn edger to cut a slot in the grass,
> lay the wire in, use DXE hold down clips and then walk on the slot to close it up, put in 32 radials.
> The lawn's been mowed twice since the radials went in, and they're already essentially invisible.
> 
> To add some stability, (3) 80lb monofilament fishing line "guy wires" run from about the 13' level
> to the front corners of the house, they protect against winds from SSW thru NNW, not perfect but 
> better than nothing.  The pole attachment is a short piece of PVC, slit to slide over the pole and
> cemented in place, each line makes 2 turns around the pipe & tied, the short collar holds them up.       
> 
> 2 runs of DXE RG-8/X and 1 run of 8-wire rotor cable are in the 1/2" electrical PVC, to accommodate 
> a possible future remote antenna tuner, these were a tight fit, it worked but shoulda been 3/4" PVC.
> The DXE 1:1 Line Isolator choke and its mounting shelf were included in the system, may be a bit of
> overkill but put it in anyway. 
> 
> The fiberglass landscaping base cover rock came from Home Depot, a small jig saw took care of the
> needed cuts easily, no fuss, easy to handle, weighs about 15 pounds or so.  
> 
> System checkout & antenna tuning was a surprise, as shown in the Excel file, who knew that a PVC
> pipe cover would detune a trap vertical antenna so drastically.  Ended up having to tune the antenna
> off-frequency such that adding the cover would then bring it into resonance where desired. I might
> do a little more touch-up on it in the future, as the footnotes on the spreadsheet show.   
> 
> Overall the system performs pretty good, on 75 & 40 it's picking up a fairly strong noise source every 
> 4 KHz that's annoying, some sleuthing is called for, the higher bands have been working into Central
> and South America and Europe well, and having more band choices again than just 40 is really nice.
> 
> Total system costs for the flagpole antenna came to about 2,700, not counting the Hustler 6-BTV which 
> was already on hand, and not counting the installation of the ground mounting pipe in concrete, nor 
> burying the 1/2" conduit .  We were going to redo the island landscaping anyway, so it was just a matter 
> of scheduling to have the landscaper do the pipe work for us for the flagpole install.  
> 
> Any questions, feel free to ask.
> 
> Larry Sheridan  K8XR
> 307-630-5697

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