[CQ-Contest] Your Inputs: May-June Contesting on a Budget Column

[Paul Schaffenberger]

Once again, thanks for the fantastic inputs you've provided to previous columns.  We have a very interesting hardware topic this time:  Recycled Aluminum.  Here is the topic as stated in the March-April issue of NCJ:

Recycled Aluminum

It is often cheaper to rebuild an old beam than to buy new.  What are your favorite rebuilding tips? What are the best systems to rebuild?  Where do you find replacement parts?  Is it worth salvaging old or broken/bent systems?  How do you use new design software to make the “resurrected” system even more capable?  What physical and durability improvements do you recommend?

 

Additional thoughts:  Has anyone made hybrid beams using, for example, a trapped reflector of one manufacturer and driven element of another.  N4BP has used one half of a trapped triabander driven element on his camper as a vertical, anyone else tried either this are a variation of this?  

Again, it is your insight and inputs that has made this column interesting and fun for me, and hopefully for the rest of the contest community.

Thanks in advance for your inputs.

Paul, K5AF