While visiting another topband operator (I won't mention any names), I
noticed his 80 meter 4 square looked funny... and after lots of thought, I
asked if it was really square. It seems it wasn't.
While thinking about how hard it can be to layout a 4 square (like a
receiving one), I thought of perhaps an easy way to do it that doesn't
require a laser (which is what I have used in the past).
Step 1: Determine the heading you want to point the diagonal for the array
(say from SW to NE). This dimension will be something like 193 feet if you
are making a 4 square on 160 with 1/4 wave element spacing. Put a stake in
the ground at each end of this line.
Step 2: Construct a piece of small rope or wire that is the length of two
sides of the array. For the above case - that would be about 273 feet.
Determine where the middle is and put a knot or something there.
Step 3: Secure the ends of the rope to your two end points and then stretch
it out in the two possible directions so both sections are tight.
You should now have a pretty good layout with equal spacing between the
elements.
I am sure some people have used this method - but I hadn't seen it
documented before - so I thought I would share it here.
73 Tree N6TR
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