I've purchased stainless steel thimbles along with a lot of other stainless steel antenna items from McMaster Carr. John KK9A Are these available at Marine Supply stores ? If not where ? I have a LM-
I am sure that either antenna will work fine for you. Usually a larger antenna has a narrower pattern and you should have a little less QRM from sources outside the beam width. I think only you can d
I'm assuming that the 40m elements are insulated or the boom would be much longer than 1/2 wl on 20m. You could ground the elements, but you would have to manipulate the antenna a little to do so. Yo
Guy anchors can be much closer to the tower than 80% of height, however the system needs to be engineered for the additional stresses. You may need larger guy wires and a stronger tower. John KK9A /
A sloping dipole, especially at a reasonable height, is a very good antenna. Some refer to a 1/4 wire as a sloper. Since the tower radiates in this configuration, results will vary a lot. John KK9A F
Maybe a choke would isolate the feedline. John KK9A Howdy -- I recently installed a Force 12 80M Sigma. It's like an H on it's side and fed asymmetrically which means the feed is off-set so you can r
Why would you use any type of balun with a vertical? A choke or unun would be more appropriate. Also to work as well as possible the matching network should be at the base of the vertical. John KK9A
This might work http://www.arraysolutions.com/Products/heinz_bolli_sams.htm#top%20of%20page John KK9A Yes - I would buy one immediately and install it on my vertical. (Marketing gurus pay attention!)
Unfortunately, after spending all of that money the antenna will still work like a base loaded 43 foot vertical on 80m and 160m. The antenna would work better on those bands if it were top loaded. Th
I had that problem at my station in Illinois and it was most prevalent when the temperature was just below freezing. In my case it was moisture in the potentiometers. I did all I could to make the un
Another advantage to switching L networks is that it's fast. In a contest you don't want to wait for an antenna to adjust. Array Solutions used to sell a unit similar to what N4ZR described for a 70'
The silicone heater that I used was made by Ogden. I'm still not sure of the model - some are listed on http://www.ogdenmfg.com/proc8ax.htm#silicone John KK9A I had that problem at my station in Illi
TIC has changed their design numerous times, perhaps eliminating or creating problems along the way. With my six rotators, I have never had a problem with alignment or with the gear slipping on the s
I have installed many large antennas by clipping a quality pulley to the mast or tower and pulling them up. It works great! A gin pole is not necessary unless you are mounting the antenna above the t
You may better off to just replace everything. About two decades ago, I owned two HDR-300's and I could not go a year without rebuilding each of them. The biggest problem was the shaft wearing out. J
About 25 years ago I launched a 1/4 wl balloon supported vertical during a contest. Unfortunately the weather was windy and the antenna was not straight up but it seemed to work pretty well. I have a
PL-259s are not water resistant and they should be properly sealed it outside. Also Belden 9913 can easily fill with water. Since this joint has been exposed to water I think you should replace the c
A long time ago I tried Belden 9913 and I had moisture related problems with it. I was amazed how much water got into my cable though a small nick. After a short time I threw it all away and switched
Several months ago I designed and built a 6el 20m beam with a 60 foot long boom. You can see a picture of it on http://www.qrz.com/w4aaa . I designed the antenna using K6STI's YO and according to the
The proposed antenna should work well, much better that the 43 footer with no top loading. I would start with about 25 feet wire, but that's just a guess. You can connect the end to your tower as you