I use two thrust bearings. It's easy to plumb the mast by using the "play" (lack of tolerance) in the piece parts. I use two for the following reasons: 1) Some of my masts are long - in one instance
I've never heard of these before, but they sure look like FB, nearly ready-to-go 80M 1/4 wave verticals. http://www.swager.com/beacon_towers.html 73, Steve NN4X EL98jh _______________________________
Maybe this will be the next thing we're putting on our towers. Monday, December 07, 2009 This Antenna Bends but Won't Break Injecting liquid metal into a polymer results in a twistable, stretchable a
This seemed like an interesting concept. I thought I'd pass it along. Isolated Mode Antenna Technology lets a single antenna offer the performance benefits of multiple antennas (Part 1 of 2) <http://
Perhaps we have to wait for "Part 2"? I said it was "interesting"; I didn't say I understood it. ;-) 73, Steve EL98jh _______________________________________________ _________________________________
Jim - Thanks for your thoughts. I wish I had more to contribute, but being as I'm not an antenna designer by education or trade, I can only offer what my thoughts were when I posted that: 1) If you t
I sure hope they don't try to patent this idea. :-) [SNIP] Antennas that beam out energy in a narrower band can be more efficient. Cell towers use this tactic, with several antennas pointing in diffe
An interesting experiment I've been performing is comparing the difference between a 20M rotating dipole at 150' and a stack of 204BAS at 110'/64'. The dipole is usually an S-unit less, and does not
I've had several failures with Force12's rivets, both on elements and on the boom. I don't know if they're still using rivets to connect the boom to the boom-mast clamp, and the boom-element clamps;
Why Ham radio, radios, and antennas rock! http://www.economist.com/node/18386151 The Economist Tuesday March 22nd 2011 Unorthodox links to the internet Signalling dissent Savvy techies are finding wa
I've recently ordered stainless steel hardware from Unicorn Stainless. Their prices are excellent, and the shipping was fast. I highly recommend them. They even have TITANIUM hardware, which is somet
I'm about to begin building a wire antenna for 80 meters. I'll be using 14ga stranded copper wire. Since it will doubtless stretch once in service, I'm wondering if I shouldn't try to either pre-stre
Anyone have any experience building the Ai1H broadband 80M dipole? I'd love the bandwidth, but am unsure that, as constructed per the article (QST, ARRL Antenna Book 17th Edition), it would be able t
Recently, there was a discussion of heat shrink tubing, and specific questions regarding UV resistance, and adhesive drying. A couple of weeks ago, I was ready to order more heat shrink tubing for my
I tripped across this document on ground gain; it seemed very interesting, and I thought I'd share it: http://www.vk3um.com/Ground%20Gain_DUBUS%203-2011_ON4KHG.pdf 73, Steve NN4X EL98jh _____________
I strongly dislike Coax Seal, for all the reasons cited. Last week, I unwrapped a connection which consisted of a bunch of PL-259's and right angle connectors which I had foolishly wrapped in Coax Se
Skip - Lighting protection is science, not religion, and requires no "belief". Consider that tall buildings, towers, the electrical grid, and aircraft, among many other things, are routinely hit by l
I concur with Bill, K4XS and the others regarding there being no issues with grounding through a tower base. Like Bill, I live in Central Florida, the Lightning Capital of the United States. I have 5
I saw this on Craig's List. The seller won't crate/ship (I asked), but it's a heckuva deal for someone. I have no relationship to the seller. 73, Steve NN4X EL98jh -- ROHN 55 TOWER ROTATING SYSTEM RT
Scott - I have wondered from time to time about this assertion: "... the inventor of the OWA...WA3FET." It is my understanding the Tom, N6BT developed the what is now known as "OWA" design with his F