Category — Antennas

Earlier this year, I hinted at a new antenna project that I would be doing. Well, it’s finally done. Everything takes longer to do than expected, right?

After ordering the 40-10 ZeroFive antenna, Balun, coax, I left them in their boxes for a couple of weeks or more. Then, I started to get the pieces out of the boxes. These people make great hardware!

First, I dug a hole and purchased the mounting pipe. I also bought 1500-feet of number fourteen insulated copper wire to be used for radials.

After digging the hole and mounting the pipe in the cement, the unwrapping began.

Here’s a look down the mounting hardware:

The left side of this photo is where the in-ground pipe will attach to this plate. The right is the install plate for the antenna.

Note the number 8 bolts that hold the antenna in place. Removing the top one allows the entire antenna to be walked up and down for work. Also note the green insulator at the back of the pipe. High quality, precision machined. Just above the insulator is a small hole for moisture to leave the pipe — a great touch.

Here’s a different view of the hardware:

This configuration makes it extremely simple to install the antenna on the mounting pipe. I had no problems installing this by myself.

The top of the picture also shows the aluminum tubing in their bubble-wrapped shipping form. The packing for the parts for shipment was way beyond normal.

Here’s a view of the radial plate and bolts for the plate:

This radial plate holds 60-bolts (comes with the plate). It is designed to be installed around a 4×4 inch post, or to be connected to the mounting pipe with a supplied U-bolt. The two round holes are designed for ground rods (which I did not use as they would have hit the cement).

Next is the installation plate for the Balun.

The four bolts fit the recommended Balun perfectly. The other two holes are for the U-bolt (supplied) to connect to the antenna.

The Balun is designed for mounting on a beam. Consequently, the weep holes for moisture are not open to earth. The manual recommends, and I followed, sealing the holes and drilling new ones on the side of the Balun facing ground.

Finally, here is the insulator between the antenna and the ground portion of the antenna:

The two bolts are where the Balun wires connect. The Balun manual notes which side is the center and which is ground.

The only engineering comment on this great antenna was that both bolts were facing the same direction. There wasn’t enough wire supplied between the Balun and the antenna connections here.

What I did was remove and reinstall one of the bolts shown, but in the opposite direction. By doing this I had wire for the “nut” side of each bolt for connection. It was a long haul, too. The bolts are machined through the insulator.

That was the setup. Next, I’ll cover installation.

You can see these pictures and others on my picture site. Simply put your cursor inside the main photo and you’ll get a menu of sizes to look at.

Scot, K9JY

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In this series on Club Program ideas, I’m providing possible programs for clubs to use in their meetings. You can find a full explanation of the approach in Club Programs – The Series.

Today’s program idea: Building a Quad Antenna.

Quad antennas are radically different then Yagi antennas. While there is debate over the effectiveness of one versus another, quad antennas offer a different challenge than a beam in terms of construction and mounting the antenna to the mast on a tower.

The program would show the various materials used to build the quad and how to mount it to a mast:

• Materials for the elements
• Wire used and support to the elements
• Feeding the bands — single or multiple antenna feeds
• Impedance matching
• Mounting the antenna to the mast — the three dimensions of a Quad.

Of course, good pictures on the construction and the mounting would make a world of difference to the program effectiveness.

Quad antennas aren’t for every location (for example, the ice storms in the Midwest), but offers great performance with a different setup than standard Yagi antennas.

Scot, K9JY

In this series on Club Program ideas, I’m providing possible programs for clubs to use in their meetings. You can find a full explanation of the approach in Club Programs – The Series.

Today’s program idea: Building a tower.

Every year, someone in the local club is either putting up or taking down a tower. It is a special time, of course, but also a great way to document how good construction, or de-construction, is done.

Have someone with a camera be the documentation person for the construction of the tower. Sure, they can help with the tower construction itself, but the most important role for this person is to document how construction is done.

Then, the tower owner can provide a program that shows the various construction details — with pictures — on how this tower was built.

A great example is the HD-70 tower construction, delivered instead to the local club.

Scot, K9JY

In this series on Club Program ideas, I’m providing possible programs for clubs to use in their meetings. You can find a full explanation of the approach in Club Programs – The Series.

Today’s program idea: Antenna modeling software.

A lot of contesting wars are won before the antenna is ever put up in the air.

Sure, geography helps — a lot. But if you have choices for antennas, you can win or lose a lot from where you are planted. Knowing your ground, your elevation angles to distant population centers, and the type of operating you do makes significant differences in your choice of antennas.

Then comes antenna modeling.

Antenna modeling can be used for dipoles to beams. Verticals to inverted vee’s. How antennas are placed, how high they are, and the surrounding ground will optimize their performance. That is what antenna modeling software will tell you.

Program ideas:

• Why use antenna modeling software
• Antenna modeling software for the average ham
• Practical example of using the software for an antenna (have a club member who is going to be putting up an antenna be the example)

Antenna modeling software has come a long ways since the early DOS versions. Given the power of home computers today, great analysis can be done for our antennas.

Scot, K9JY

Photo Credit: Antennex.com

In this series on Club Program ideas, I’m providing possible programs for clubs to use in their meetings. You can find a full explanation of the approach in Club Programs – The Series.

Today’s program idea: Moonbounce.

Bouncing signals off of the moon and listening to them come back is a fascinating entry into Doppler shifts, weak signals, long distances, and knowing when the moon is available at your QTH.

Program ideas;

• Why the moon?
• How it works
• Building Antennas — and rotors
• Software (WSJT)
• Frequencies to listen

Hams were working the moon long before astronauts landed there. It’s time to brush up on how all that was done.

Scot, K9JY

Photo Credit: SV1BTR’s antenna on Skynet

There is a thread on the TowerTalk reflector about stacking quads. I have never heard of it being done, but one of the participants pointed us to DF3KV and his stacked quads for 20, 15, and 10 meters.

It is an impressive picture and gallery. You have to appreciate the effort it takes to get these 6-element quads up on the tower and then geared up to operate. Especially when you consider that the tower is not that tall.

Nice!

Scot, K9JY