Hi John, We know that gain is relative as well as absolute patterns differ between antennas at the same height so unless you have the identical antennas pointed in the exact same direction right at t
Tnx for posting this. I like the Pilots WX forecasting stone. :-) 73 Bob KQ2M A good topic. The NWS recommendations are found here: https://www.weather.gov/media/epz/mesonet/CWOP-Siting.pdf Kim N5OP
Hi Gedas, I use #10 for 160, #12 for 80 and #14 for 40. The #10 NEVER breaks not even in frequent ice storms only the wire connectors that I use with them. #12 for 80 almost never breaks and #14 brea
Hi Gedas, Im glad that you have not yet had a break. That is more common when there is little or no tension placed on the wire or the antennas have not been up long enough. :-) The problem comes when
I had a problem on 20 meters similar to that. I could not figure out what it was back and forth to the tower with burnishing the relays in the relay box, replacing certain cables, etc. No help. I swa
Hi, Today I noticed that my 160 feedline which is a ~ 325 feet long run of Buryflex, had lots of critter teeth marks in two main areas. Clearly the coax in these areas is damaged beyond repair. Start
Hi Stan, Thank you for your email and excellent suggestions. In the interest of time I am replacing the entire feedline now but will replace it with hardline in the immediate future for the reasons t
Hi Gene, Yes, excellent point! That is going to be part of my strategy when I use hardline to replace it. Tnx & 73 Bob KQ2M You don't need to worry about matching impedances if you make the 75 Ohm ca
Hi, I am in the process of replacing the 160 meter feedline initially with Buryflex and then in short order with hardline. That will be the best protection against critters and other sources of damag
Hi Jim, Thank you for the very detailed response and information! Although I use #31 material for 160 and 80 I do use #43 for 40 10. I did not realize the level of variability of one core to the next
Hi Gary, Thank you for explaining that so clearly and concisely. My goal was to get a repeat of the impedance and then impedance match that properly for somewhere in the middle of the freq. range tha
I think that it is easier and less confusing to say An unguyed tower than can be guyed 73 Bob KQ2M What I mean with "a guyed tower that can be unguyed" is that the guy wire just adds strength to an a
Hi Scott, Your post brings up some important points. First, when using any thrust bearing (TB), it is important to realize that the TB may not be machined perfectly so that the angle of the holes for
Did you mean that the guy anchors will be located at different elevations? If so, this is not a problem. Both of my Rohn 45 towers (100 and 130) are located on elevated ledge and have two guys on tha
The use of star guys reduces the wind induced torque on the tower by reducing the amount of twisting in the winds. This reduces the twisting and stress experienced by the legs of the tower. There are
Very tragic indeed and completely avoidable with a little common sense and foresight. Both of my Rohn 45 towers use pier pin bases. The temporary 1/4 EHS guys were put on the top of first section on
All yagis should definitely be torque balanced, preferably right at the clamp where it bolts to the mast. Having said that, a significant issue is that local topography and wx cndx can combine to ins
Personally, I cant think of a more worthless pursuit than criticizing contesting. Speaking for myself (but I suspect lots of others too), pursuing contesting enabled to repeatedly test and expand the
Hi Steve, I have built 5 of these excellent antennas. There is nothing in the manual that I have seen that tells you to alter the length of the Beta match from the 17 that is shown. The only thing th
I can think of several reasons that a tower gets out of plumb: 1) Settling of ground around the tower base especially when it is an asymmetric combination of ledge and dirt - just look at what happen