Month: August 2016

The Tower

The bottom section, which is 4′ tall will be in the concrete, leaveing me 32′ above ground.  There will be roughly 2′ of mast putting the base plate of the Hex Beam at 34′.

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Here are the pieces in storage.
The proposed location.
The proposed location.
Digging the base. About 6ft from power and telephone and 11 ft from my septic tank.
Digging the base. About 6ft from power/telephone and 11 ft from my septic tank. Thanks to N0ZE for pulling the backhoe trailer to and from my place, too much GVW for my jeep.
The base section formed up and waiting for the day to pour concrete.
The base section formed up and waiting for the day to pour concrete.
Concrete poured and forms removed. My chief engineer (XLY) K0LMR is ok with it.
Concrete poured and forms removed. My chief engineer (XLY) K0LMR is ok with it.
Working on stacking. Kirk (N0JDP) and our friend Robert.
Working on stacking. Kirk (N0JDP) and our friend Robert.
Close up of the gin pole pully.
Close up of the gin pole pully.
All sections stacked.
All sections stacked.
From the hill behind the house. Hex beam installed.
From the hill behind the house. Hex beam installed.
Looking up from the base.
Looking up from the base.

My Antenna Farm

I have been working on getting my antennas to where I want them since getting on HF.  I believe this will be a continual work in progress.  This article will document the status, struggles and success.

(Update 5/1/18)

  • Removed Long Wire.

(Update 6/21/17)

  • Moved Vertical see article here.

(Update 5/13/17)

  • Removed 40M Dipole and re-installed Long Wire for local net use.

(Update 1/1/2017)

  • After working with the 40M Dipole for a while it does not appear to work very well for DX.  Probably not high enough.  The rule of thumb is, for a nice low take off angle you need to be 1/4 wave length or higher.
  • The K4KIO Hexbeam is AMAZING!!!!
  • The OCF Dipole is an OK general purpose antenna and works well enough for NVIS on 75/80.
  • The Vertical is still very low noise, but does not work every well as a transmit antenna.  Not enough radials.

House

  • 18.5 Ft to Peak of Gable
  • 14 Ft to Facia Board on N Side
  • Side 324 degrees
  • Front 54 degrees
  • Evergreen Row 300 degrees

 

K4KIO Hex Beam (Red Hexagon)

From the hill behind the house. Hex beam installed.
From the hill behind the house. Hex beam installed.
  • 20m – 6m (Also Works on 2m)
  • 20m Elements at 25’ High
  • Test Results Rig Expert AA-30 and AA-600
hexontower
Hex on tower.
Hex25ft
Hex on temp mast.

HexAA600_6m

HexAA600_2m

OCFD (Blue)

  • 22.5’/44.5’ w/ 4:1 Balun
  • Center at 15’ High
  • Short Leg is heading 210 degrees w/ End at 8’ High
  • Long Leg is heading 75 degrees w/ End at 8’ High
  • This antenna will be mainly used for 40m maybe some 75/80m work
  • Test Results Rig Expert AA-30

OCFDipoleCoaxReRoute

33’ Vertical w/ 22 Radials  (White Circle)

  • Test Results Rig Expert AA-30

 

40M Dipole (Yellow) – Removed 5/12/17

  • Put Up for DX
  • Balun @ 23.5′ High
  • Test Results Rig Expert AA-30

Long Wire (Purple) Removed 5/1/18

  • 84’ Long w/ 9:1 Unun
  • Unun is 23.5’ High
  • Heading 330 degrees w/ End at 10’ High
  • Works very well on 75m for NVIS
  • Test Results Rig Expert AA-30

EndFed_Final

AntennaFarm