Sandbagger
Administrator/The Boss
Posts: 6,245
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Post by Sandbagger on Jun 10, 2011 14:01:03 GMT -5
I was replacing a Moonraker 4 that had been destroyed in a hurricane. I used a RS rotor for that, which worked okay. But when I went to replace the 4 with the 6, I figured I could get away with the same rotor. I was just a dumb kid and knew nothing about wind loading and such. That's ok, we all live and learn. I once had my first 3 element beam (with a RS rotor!), on 30' of mast buried about 2' into the ground and secured to the soffit of my house with a common hose clamp which I had drilled 3 holes in to attach to the soffit with wood screws. That mount had survived 2 years and 3 omni antennas before it, but an ice storm finally did it in.
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Post by homerbb on Jun 10, 2011 14:34:03 GMT -5
That's ok, we all live and learn. I once had my first 3 element beam (with a RS rotor!), on 30' of mast buried about 2' into the ground and secured to the soffit of my house with a common hose clamp which I had drilled 3 holes in to attach to the soffit with wood screws. That mount had survived 2 years and 3 omni antennas before it, but an ice storm finally did it in. Now that's funny. Don't look a me! I'd never . . . I confess.
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Post by cbrown on Jun 13, 2011 8:31:06 GMT -5
Got the Atroplane above the Yagi for a workout. That's actually a great spot for the Astroplane. Let us know how it works up there!
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Post by cbrown on Jun 13, 2011 8:34:53 GMT -5
That's ok, we all live and learn. I once had my first 3 element beam (with a RS rotor!), on 30' of mast buried about 2' into the ground and secured to the soffit of my house with a common hose clamp which I had drilled 3 holes in to attach to the soffit with wood screws. That mount had survived 2 years and 3 omni antennas before it, but an ice storm finally did it in. My dad had the roof done back in 1979, and he swore to me that the plywood under the shingles was full of holes from all the guy wires I had on all the antennas up on the roof. ;D
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Sandbagger
Administrator/The Boss
Posts: 6,245
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Post by Sandbagger on Jun 13, 2011 11:06:40 GMT -5
That's ok, we all live and learn. I once had my first 3 element beam (with a RS rotor!), on 30' of mast buried about 2' into the ground and secured to the soffit of my house with a common hose clamp which I had drilled 3 holes in to attach to the soffit with wood screws. That mount had survived 2 years and 3 omni antennas before it, but an ice storm finally did it in. My dad had the roof done back in 1979, and he swore to me that the plywood under the shingles was full of holes from all the guy wires I had on all the antennas up on the roof. ;D I had one hole from a guy line hook. I was a brazen teenager, with very little concept of roofs, how they're sealed, and whether what I did would have caused a leak. I was rather cavalier in my antenna arrangements. Today, I wouldn't even think about piercing a roof unless there was absolutely no other way around it.
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Post by cbrown on Jun 14, 2011 8:48:40 GMT -5
I had one hole from a guy line hook. I was a brazen teenager, with very little concept of roofs, how they're sealed, and whether what I did would have caused a leak. I was rather cavalier in my antenna arrangements. Today, I wouldn't even think about piercing a roof unless there was absolutely no other way around it. When my dad saw me on the roof, he went out and bought me some smelly black sealer in a 1 gallon can to make sure everything I was putting through the roof was sealed. I had to put it around every eye hook and antenna mount. I would have had my butt handed to me if I caused a leak. Looking back I'm amazed I didn't.
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Post by homerbb on Jun 14, 2011 13:55:23 GMT -5
Neighbor behind me had a 70' tower up. Of the three guy points he's got 2 through the roof of his house. It's been up 10 years or more.
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Post by gator7 on Jun 15, 2011 6:02:46 GMT -5
Seeing that Fathers day is near, I would like to add that I wish my Dad was here to tell how much I love him. And all of the lessons I learned from him. I was 22 when he passed. So much time and I didn't say the things I wanted to.
God bless to my Dad, and all of the Dad's.
Thanks.
Gator.
BTW, I had a astro plane. Great antenna.
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Post by cbrown on Jun 15, 2011 8:44:24 GMT -5
Seeing that Fathers day is near, I would like to add that I wish my Dad was here to tell how much I love him. And all of the lessons I learned from him. I was 22 when he passed. So much time and I didn't say the things I wanted to. You never really ever get to thank your dad. My condolences.
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Post by homerbb on Jun 15, 2011 23:18:16 GMT -5
I had my Dad until I was 39.
Grandpa lived until he was 97. My Dad was in his 60's then. After the funeral Daddy was crying some, and I listened as he explained. " I am an old man myself, but losing my Dad is hard. I feel so lost, as if I am a helpless child".
Daddy fought cancer for years, and ultimately it won taking him at the age of 77. When I heard there was no way to fight the cancer any longer I understood how my Dad had felt. I felt that there was very little reason left to work so hard if my Daddy wasn't there to show it to. I felt how much I needed his approval and words of encouragement.
I feel the loss of your Dad at so young an age. When my children lost their mother when she was only 48, and they were 23 and 24 years old, I felt so frustrated not only for myself, but for the terrible pain of their loss.
I also offer my condolences, as well as my wished to you for a happy Father's Day.
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Post by homerbb on Sept 7, 2011 10:34:16 GMT -5
At the pictured distance above the Yagi the Astroplane did well. Closer to the Yagi there was serious interaction between the two antennas. The AP does not like metal objects too close to its lower ring. After the test the Qv4k went back into the air above the yagi. I have the Homebrew Astroplane back up temporarily as I do repairs and upgrades to the tip-over tower. The SWR is still great, and it works a charm.
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Post by cbrown on Sept 8, 2011 9:40:03 GMT -5
The Astroplane always did perform better when you moved it away from any other antennas.
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Sandbagger
Administrator/The Boss
Posts: 6,245
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Post by Sandbagger on Sept 8, 2011 13:01:11 GMT -5
The Astroplane always did perform better when you moved it away from any other antennas. And mounted it high above the ground in open air.
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Post by homerbb on Sept 9, 2011 9:23:57 GMT -5
If I were to pick an 11 meter antenna to love, it would have to be this AP. It is so light, easy to raise, and works both local and DX like a dream. The big ol' Vector4k does trump it in some respects, but is a booger to raise comparatively.
Well, when the budget permits I'll get the tip-over back up and raise the AP a bit higher.
The Qv4k has found a new home.
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Post by cbrown on Sept 9, 2011 9:37:23 GMT -5
And mounted it high above the ground in open air. Ya, the higher the better. It's a great antenna design. I'm glad Homer found a way to make it again, and not at a great cost.
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Post by homerbb on Sept 9, 2011 20:18:40 GMT -5
One of these days when I run across a pile of aluminum tubing no one loves I'll build one with that. I thought about a copper one, but I don't have the nerves to robs a bank . . . Copper's heavy, but this antenna hangs from nearer the top, so such a design would off-set the problems 27MHz antennas of copper entail. It would be an easy to build, easy to mount, beautifully shiny, highly effective monopole. Built to proper scale it could be used for a great variety of bands. Copper AP, anyone?
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Post by cbrown on Sept 12, 2011 8:20:39 GMT -5
Copper isn't a bad antenna material, but you have to make sure you watch out for the oxidation problems. I've known people who make Jpoles and the like that will coat the entire antenna in UV protected polyurethane to keep the oxidation from working its way into the connections and mounts. Plus the costs are now high. If I had an unlimited budget, I'd look for getting everything plated in silver. RF loves silver. But who has that kind of $$$...
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Post by homerbb on Sept 12, 2011 22:39:11 GMT -5
Were i able to do it I'd certainly coat it well for just the reason you pointed out. Not too likely to happen any time soon. I think the copper is getting nearly as costly as silver. . .
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Post by cbrown on Sept 13, 2011 8:39:36 GMT -5
Very true.
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Post by gator7 on Sept 25, 2011 10:09:51 GMT -5
Yes, i had a AP back in the day. Not sure what I did with it. But it was the bomb of omni direction antenna. wish i still had it.
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Post by homerbb on Sept 25, 2011 18:54:51 GMT -5
Well, you can always make one . . . ;D
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Post by cbrown on Sept 26, 2011 8:22:22 GMT -5
Maybe one day you can jump to the next step and make an Astrobeam. They weren't half bad, either.
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Post by homerbb on Sept 26, 2011 20:05:53 GMT -5
The Astrobeam is on the to-do list. I've already started gathering information on specs to move ahead on it when I can.
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Sandbagger
Administrator/The Boss
Posts: 6,245
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Post by Sandbagger on Sept 26, 2011 21:27:20 GMT -5
The Astrobeam is on the to-do list. I've already started gathering information on specs to move ahead on it when I can. The Astrobeam was somewhat unconventional for a yagi. Most yagis have the elements and the boom electrically connected together. The Astrombeam isolated the boom from both the Astroplane driven element and the reflector and director. The original design used a metal boom and plastic parts to isolate the boom from the rest of the antenna. I'm sure on a homebrew design a piece of schedule 40 PVC would probably work as a boom. The Astrobeam also required a short piece of coax cable used as a matching section. I'd love to find another, that antenna had fantastic side and back rejection.
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Post by homerbb on Sept 26, 2011 22:54:13 GMT -5
There is one on Ebay (or should be), by now, NIB. It was offered on another forum, but no one bit on it. He was asking $150.00 there, but thinks it might go lower if there is no bidding war. As for the odd way of isolating everything from the boom, I have noticed that. I have considered using PVC on the ends of a metal boom like this, too:
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Post by cbrown on Sept 27, 2011 8:49:16 GMT -5
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Post by homerbb on Sept 27, 2011 16:34:30 GMT -5
Thanks. I'll download it.
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Post by doctor on Oct 14, 2011 19:41:00 GMT -5
I had an astroplane for a few years, fantastic antenna worked great for local and dx but when the hurricane came along it tore up my antenna systems it, and my verticals , so now have a sorio 2016 which I do like.. DOCTOR/795
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Post by homerbb on Oct 14, 2011 23:40:04 GMT -5
Yep. great antennas.
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bigt
Mudduck
Posts: 38
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Post by bigt on May 5, 2015 10:54:35 GMT -5
Looks good, but I'm willing to bet it won't work as well as your Sigma 4 clone. I had an Astro Plane before I got the Sigma 4, and the AP performed worse than a standard 5/8 wave GP. The Sigma 4 was about 1 S-unit stronger than the 5/8th wave.
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