At long last, after five solid months of 6" or more of snow on the ground
(November 1 - April 1), my 40M 4-square is finished. Preliminary receiving
tests indicate that it is playing almost exactly according to theory -- 5-6
dB forward gain over a monopole and 20+ dB F/B. The ability to switch
instantly makes for some astonishing discoveries (like a loud European BC
station to the NE disappearing when the array is switched to the SW,
reavealing a ham SSB QSO.) Worked 3B7RF on 40M SSB on one call, so it seems
to be doing a good job over long distances, too. Of course, I'm full of the
elation of having completed the thing, so my evaluations could be a touch
biased :-) Time, and a few contests, will tell.
I owe much thanks to the many on Tower Talk who have given me invaluable
advice and assistance on this project, especially Bill N4ALG, Jim Miller
K4SQR of Comtek, and Gerald K5GW of Texas Towers, all of whom spent a lot of
time helping me. If you're thinking 4-square, get in touch with Jim at
Comtek: K4SQR@juno.com. He's the man with the info and the parts to make it
all come together. I also got great info from W4AN, K7SO, W1VC, N4KG, W4RNL,
K8DO, and many, many others. Because of the experience, expertise, and
generally high caliber of the participants, this reflector is the best
resource for information on the web that I have ever found. Thanks.
For those who are interested in the details: All in all, it took about one
year from conception to completion. After a while, I lost track of the hours
I spent working on this antenna -- research; design; measuring the plot;
laying out property lines; clearing the forested land; measuring and
orienting the element positions; shopping for parts; sinking pressure
treated 4x4's for element supports; measuring, cutting, rolling, soldering,
unrolling, and pinning 7,000 feet of radial wire; building elements (cutting
slots, deburring and finishing 28 pieces of telescoping aluminum tubing),
cutting phasing lines, installing everything, soldering PL-259's, crimping
spade lugs on control wires, tuning, refinishing the control box, etc. --
all on a piece of land 350 feet and about 75 vertical feet down the hill
from the shack (it's easy going down; coming back up to get the tool you
forgot is the hard part.) Add to that some of the work done last year to
install three 250' runs of conduit, pulling wires, and installing an
elaborate ground system (resources shared with other antennas of course),
and you get a total of well over 200 hours on the 4-square.
Obviously, building an antenna like this is an exercise in patience. It's
takes a long time before you can run to the shack and try it out. Talk about
delayed gratification! It's an incredible amount of work, but the results
satisfying and well worth it. See you on the bands!
73, Dick, WC1M
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