Topband: 8 element antenna - Amplifier placement

[Les Kalmus]

Gary,

Sounds like a normal antenna raising day in the woods. Your antenna will 
probably work fine now. Don't ask me how I know that...

73, Les W2LK


On 9/25/2016 1:22 AM, Gary Smith wrote:
> A little follow-up with my life in the
> fast lane...
>
> I move slowly, all considering, kind of
> like Ahab with a pair of shoes. I've been
> spending the better part of the last two
> weeks putting up a HI-Z 4-8Pro array.
>
> If it were open space with good soil, all
> would have been done after the first 1-2
> days. But no, I live in New England, the
> place where the Glacier's Gall Stones came
> to rest after it encountered Global
> Warming.
>
> The place I have to put the array in is
> like a Louisiana Bayou minus the standing
> water. It's a salt marsh and just a bit
> above sea level. I don't have an option
> where else to put it, this is it.
>
> We're known for Lyme disease, Lyme, CT is
> 10 miles west of here so tick protection
> is mandatory. Worse, this is Bambi's
> frolic-land and deer sign is everywhere.
> More, we're blessed to have West Nile  and
> of course Zeka is getting all kinds of
> press. So pyrethrin and DEET 40 is the
> cologne de jour.
>
> You can't imagine the scale of the rocks
> here, it really boggles the imagination.
> So much stone 5" below the surface and
> muck on top of them. Some boulders above
> ground are the size of Volkswagens and
> most showing are like an iceberg with the
> greater mass underneath.
>
> This place has one other unusual issue in
> that in a storm surge, at high tide, salt
> water can get in there and will ruin
> everything. So to outwit the tide, I moved
> the amplifiers up inside the PVC tubes and
> used a rubber cap to hold the amp high
> enough that if the water rises, it won't
> reach the electronics as there will be an
> air pocket inside to keep everything out
> of harm's way. I posted this pic earlier
> of what I did:
> doctorgary.net/Hi-Z-8-Pro-3.jpg
> It will work just fine to keep the amps
> safe..
>
> Of course there are the briars, brambles
> everywhere that are strong enough to stop
> an Iron Man in his tracks, not to mention
> the bittersweet vines that make walking in
> a straight line impossible.
>
> I staked out the proper placements for the
> 8 antennae, 4 times, before I found an
> acceptable spot rock-wise but the trees
> were unforgiving and ended up cutting down
> 7 rather large trees to make room.
>
> Of course the Poison Ivy is everywhere and
> the last spot I had to deal with branches
> & rock-wise had a hairy 5" root of Poison
> Ivy going up the tree with branches
> hanging out right in the way of the
> antenna. The Oak was too thick for my 20"
> chain saw so I had to remove the tree
> branches and the poison ivy.
>
> I couldn't reach the branches 20' up and
> my extendible saw/pruner could only reach
> the poison ivy. Ended up slicking the vine
> at knee level and leaving it die for a few
> days. I tried a rope saw but it got stuck
> 1/2" in and was useless. Then I remembered
> the extra elements I ordered from DXE and
> connected the large ones & duct taped the
> pruner to the aluminum and was able to
> reach the branches. Between the tree
> sawdust and the poison Ivy Sawdust, it was
> a glorious time.
>
> Finally , success! The local metal shop
> cut my aluminum angle for the
> ground/support rods, so today I hoped to
> sink all the angles, using a Stainless
> Steel angle as a probe to find what
> worked. Great success, I get to the last
> place I had marked out as correct, put the
> knapsack with all my tools down, pull out
> the SS angle and pound in the Aluminum and
> there it was, the sound like small Harley
> Davidsons on a mission from God, the
> ground wasps that I had put my knapsack
> down on their entrance were angry and knew
> I was to blame.
>
> Give me three good Honey Bee stings, one
> yellow Jacket sting but nothing inch for
> inch is more painful than these guys, they
> are just mean. They stung me several times
> and I proved Ahab can still run if the
> prize is worth enough. I couldn't get my
> tools, there were constantly 3-4 dozen of
> these in the air swarming everything I had
> laid down.
>
> Some Hornet killer later and I could get
> close enough with a stick to wrangle my
> tools out but the damage was done
> time-wise, I couldn't finish before dark.
> So I finished assembling the antennas,
> have them ready to connect to the
> controller and tomorrow I get to connect
> up all the coax, the terminals, everything
> outside and I'm good to go.
>
> My ear is the size of a Cauliflower but at
> last count it was Wasps 5, Gary 100, that
> wasp stuff really works... Looking forward
> to hearing with this marvellous Antenna
> system.
>
> Oh, and I left out so much more of the
> saga... ;)
>
> 73,
>
> Gary
> KA1J
>
>   
>> I'm so close to being done with putting
>> this together. I have all 8 antennas made
>> @ 23' each the tip section is .5" and the
>> base is .850" I'm using a 3/4" fiberglass
>> rod as an insulator
>>
>> doctorgary.net/Hi-Z-8-Pro-1.jpg
>> doctorgary.net/Hi-Z-8-Pro-2.jpg
>>
>> I am having a conundrum with the placement
>> of the enclosure for the preamp mounted at
>> each antenna and need some advice. The
>> problem is I am at sea level and the
>> antennas will be mounted in a location
>> that will possibly get a storm surge
>> during a Hurricane, it ruined my remote
>> coax switch during Sandy from this very
>> reason. The preamp does have a silicone
>> gasket but if the amp gets submerged in
>> salt water, I'm sure it will get past the
>> terminals and ruin the amp. I have no
>> alternate choice, this is the location
>> where I have to put the array.
>>
>> Seeing the photo of the end cap on the PVC
>> tubing with the zip tie holding the amp in
>> place (to protect from rain & Snow), gave
>> me an idea for the solution; At the top of
>> the PVC tube, make two opposing holes, run
>> a loose loop of thin wire through and
>> twist together. Run the coax up & over the
>> wire to hold the amp elevated inside the
>> tube, all the way to the top. Use a rubber
>> cap with radiator clamp to secure the top
>> and make it truly airtight. Now if the
>> tide water from a storm surge encroaches,
>> there will be a pocket of air inside and
>> will be unable to push high enough to
>> reach the amplifier. I tried this with a
>> Mason jar and the water did not get very
>> high in the upside down jar.
>>
>> doctorgary.net/Hi-Z-8-Pro-3.jpg
>>
>> So here's the dilemma: As a further hedge
>> against water damage assuming there are
>> strong winds making waves (they would not
>> be breakers, just waves in the marsh) at
>> this time, I'd like to raise the placement
>> of the amplifier so it would be another
>> foot higher than standard placement which
>> is on the base below the insulator. This
>> would require me to clamp the PVC on the
>> antenna instead of the base. Can anyone
>> see how this might be a problem with
>> operation?
>>
>> Also, I'd like to spray camo paint on the
>> elements so they don't stand out. When the
>> leaves come down, I'd prefer the neighbors
>> not see the elements, they're nosy enough
>> as it is. I think I remember reading a
>> layer of paint on the element shouldn't
>> cause a problem, is this correct?
>>
>> Thanks & 73,
>>
>> Gary
>> KA1J
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