Well, the C-4SXL is up and operational. 50ft tower, 350 ft above the beach,
takeoff over saltwater short path to most places.
Special thanks to Bill K6KM and Bob G3PJT who took the long trip down here
to help on the project. The ham spirit lives, plus we had a lot of fun on
this island. Lunch at Stonyridge vineyard not to be missed.
Also thanks to the Tower Talk members who did terrain analysis and advised
on the tower height.
Built the ant on the tower, not a hard job using my version of PVRC mount as
shown in ARRL Antenna book. Also used a static line up the tower with a Pelz
ascender for fall arrest which kept me hooked on at all times and made for a
degree of peace of mind. Also very convenient to use.
Also thanks to N1LO for his wonderful website on tower construction. Might
have saved my life.
As it was I spent some time in rock climbing gear shops to find that what I
had learned about knots and climbing over 40 years ago was dangerously out
of date.
Got the antenna operational just before the Commonwealth Contest (BERU) last
weekend.
Use F12 baluns (thanks Bill).
It tuned a little high for cw men on 10 and 15. Added 4in total to the 10m
driver by slipping short lengths of split tube from a junked TV ant over the
ends. Am sure this practice not commended by the manufacturer.
Antenna shows good directivity but have not made measurements as yet.
SWR at end of approx 100ft RG213 is by the book.
Agreement between the Autek Analyst at the balun with beam pointing at the
sky and SWR measured at rig with beam in operating position very good.
While F12 do not advise measuring with beam pointing away from earth results
were good in this case.
How did it work:?
Looks like Bob G3PJT working ZL4CC from here made substantially more qs than
the super station ZL6QH ( sited on a flat hilltop with km long Vee beams
etc.) ZL6QH 460 miles South of here so difference in propagation might be a
factor, but nevertheless the outcome is encouraging.
Thanks again to all for advice and encouragement. The 40m tune up advice
from Natan and others worked very well.
73 es gl
end
Barry Kirkwood PhD ZL1DD
Signal Hill Homestay
66 Cory Road
Palm Beach
Waiheke Island 1240
NEW ZEALAND
www.waiheke.co.nz/signal.htm
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