[TowerTalk] Tower and Antenna Work

[Timothy A. Holmes]

Ok, that makes sense Bob:

27 feet (or maybe slightly more) is the top of the mast right now.  I 
would LOVE to put another tower section on, but right now cannot afford 
it.

As far as performance, both the tribander and the wire seem to do pretty 
well.  I have plenty of dx on both of them

Thanks for the ideas and the link

TIM
W8TAH

On 2/21/2016 1:10 PM, Robert Harmon wrote:
> Tim,
>
> The first thing I see is that the tri-bander needs to be higher to get
> reasonable DX performance.  From what you described the tri-bander is at
> 22 feet high and
> a 6M beam at 27 feet.   Is 27 feet the highest point on the mast ? I
> would give the
> tri bander priority on height and get it up as high as you can. With the
> sunspot cycle declining 10M and 15M will be have poor conditions and 20M
> will be the best band out of the three for a few years untill condx
> start ramping up again,  At 22 feet high the take off
> angle is almost straight up on 20 meters and would be very poor for DX.
> If the height could be raised to 35 feet then you would have a half
> wavelength on 20 which would be about the
> lowest height for DXing. I think your wire dipole at 40 feet would be a
> better DX performer than the tribander unless you can raise the
> tribander.  Here is a good article from the ARRL
> on antenna heights to give you some more insight on this.
>
> https://www.arrl.org/files/file/antplnr.pdf
>
> Bob
> K6UJ
>
>
>
> On 2/20/16 2:10 PM, Timothy A. Holmes wrote:
>> Hi Folks:
>>
>> Spent part of the day outside today re-rigging the balun on my
>> ladderline fed doublet.  Got me thinking about my antenna system and
>> the work that needs done to it.
>>
>> The system is as follows:
>>
>> 135' doublet at ~40 feet fed with ladder line to a 4:1 balun and then
>> coax to the radio
>> 6m, 3 element beam -- fed with some sort of coax (Unknown type, Old)
>> about 27 feet up on the tower
>> 9 element 2m beam at about 24 feet on the tower -- fed with some sort
>> of old unknown coax
>> 3 element Tri-bander at 22 feet on the tower fed with (again) some
>> sort of old unknown coax
>>
>> I have all the equipment in the shack bonded together, but that system
>> needs to be reworked, as does the outside ground as right now it is a
>> hunk of old water pipe pounded a foot or so into the ground outside my
>> window, connected to everything with braid.
>>
>> The rotor is connected to the controller with two separate runs of
>> cable (need to be replaced) because thats what I had available. as
>> well the Uclamps on the top of the rotor need replaced
>>
>> THe rotor is old, given to me by a friend, I dont remember the make
>> and model of it, and Im too tired to go pull it off the tower to check
>> -- LOL
>>
>> the tower itself is 2 sections of tower -- made of what looks like
>> 1"OD tubing with horizontal cross braces welded to the vertical legs.
>> Each face is about 14 inches across.  again, it as given to me.  Its
>> mounted on a home made tilt over base which is spiked into the ground
>> with 3, 3' spikes made from ground rod (copper over steel)
>>
>> the cable run to the base of the tower is about 30 feet or so and
>> tower top is 20 feet + Mast -- so longest runs should be short of 60
>> feet.
>>
>> I am pretty sure I have the wrong sorts of coax on each antenna, as I
>> grabbed whatever fit and hooked it up.
>>
>> I do have a roll (maybe 100 feet or a little more ) of what appears to
>> be 5/8" air dialectric hard line that I reclaimed from an upgraded
>> cable TV installation years ago
>>
>> My main interests are contesting, DXing and a little bit of VHF weak
>> signals work.
>>
>> Now for the questions.  What do I need to fix / replace and what do I
>> need to do it with.  What recommendations do you have for cables,
>> cable types, mounting systems etc etc etc -- I really want / need to
>> improve my antenna system.
>>
>> Secondly -- I would like to work on improving my low angle performance
>> on 10, 15, 20 for DXing -- Im beginning modeling a wire vertical --
>> any suggestions.
>>
>> The biggest problem with all of this is I am unemployed, so money is
>> in short supply, raising the tower is not an option right now unless
>> someone knows someone who has tower they want to donate to a worthy
>> cause -- LOL
>>
>> Ok -- thanks much -- any input/ideas that you have or any questions
>> you might have, please let me know
>>
>> TIM
>> W8TAH
>> _______________________________________________
>>
>>
>>
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