Hi Jeff:
It sounds to me like you're looking for the boom to element mounting
system that KLM uses.
In my opinion, this might be the worst thing you could possibly
use for an antenna that needs to stay up longer than a year.
I have owned various KLM antennas with this mounting system
and have always needed to keep those things "in stock," as they
break regularly. The black material is LEXAN (tm) and is quite
brittle. If you overtighten the assembly the smallest bit, it will
crack underneath, where you can't see it. One good gust of wind, and
the element is now twisting in the breeze. Also, I don't think that
LEXAN is too UV stable, and it tends to deteriorate in the weather.
The easiest way to hang elements is with small plates and four u-bolts.
Not the best, but the easiest. For a more elegant approach, try to
replicate the Force-12 approach, with a piece of aluminum bent
around the boom and riveted in place. The use two (or more) small
u-bolts to hang the element from there. You can insulate the elements
from the boom by encasing them in PVC where they go through the
u-bolts. A picture would be worth at least as many words as the
preceding paragraph, so you might look on the Force-12 web site.
I don't have the URL handy, but any search engine will turn it up.
73, J.P. W2XX
--
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J.P. Kleinhaus, W2XX (fdba AA2DU)
E-mail: w2xx@cloud9.net
As we say in the software business: "You are hosed."
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