VHF 2 Meter Tape Measure Antenna PROJECT

This is where to be for the antenna build coming up at the W5AW clubhouse. You will find everything you need to know to get ready. Check out the links and You Tube videos to get an idea of what is involved.

Any questions - bug Matthew [KG5CCT] on facebook and I will get an answer back to you.

W5AW 146.820 ~ BSARC
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Latest update:
All right everyone - we have 7 people that have opted to 
bring their $30 for parts so far - here's a breakdown
of everyone signed up and where we stand on build day.

  paid $30                 getting their own parts

  Bruce Jaeger             Laurie Peterson
  Daren Bishop             Michael Weddel
  Lloyd Duck               Robert Ballard
  Tracey Carey             Joshua Sigmon
  Pepper Sullivan
  Thomas Tafuro
  Ryan Briggs

There is still plenty of time for me to get parts for anyone else 
that wants to bring $30. Email me and we can find a time to meet 
in town or something...
  
!! Build day is set for SATURDAY - APRIL 15 at 1:00 PM !!

I will make sure we have cold drinks. And between now and then let's figure out something for food and snacks. Suggestions welcome.
Primary things to review:

Plans we are going to use, click HERE.

Cost per antenna: $30.00

Parts list click HERE.
( (( Original project description as follows )) )

The inception of this very cool, extremely cheap, and ultra flexible antenna came out quite some time ago. Since then it has garnered quite a bit of attention and of course experimentation. Our goal will to build our own so we will have something to use for local fox hunting here in Big Spring, TX.

And HERE is a You Tube video to get you started.

Everyone will be responsible for purchasing their own materials. On that note we need a few people to volunteer to bring a soldering iron or two. Probably two. And of course solder. I will probably purchase a few 10' sections of PVC pipe for the antenna frame and we can figure out the costs later. In fact, it would probably be a good idea for me to establish a set price for the entire rig, and then get a collection together so I can simply go to the hardware store and get all the parts we need.

To take a look at the original McCoy click HERE.
And there are a few other articles I found as well. This ONE has excellent plans that we can print out and have on hand or simply display on the overhead projector.
Here's another one to look at - click HERE.

** Update / Look below for the parts/price breakdown link and click on it.

- I went to town on Friday (02/17/17) in search for our parts. In case anyone can think of another place to check out, let it be know I went to Ace, Home Depot, Higgenbothams, TA Truck Stop, Radio Shack, Basin 2-Way, and Fastenal. Henry [KN3RD] suggested that Harbor Freight in Midland would have a good price on clamps, and Daren [W5DTB] said he is not only interested but is willing to pick them up and bring them. We'll have to see if the price is better.

The truck stop has PL-259 connectors pre-built with coax for less than $10.00 and considering the cost of a single PL-259 connector it's not a bad idea. We can also opt to get the connectors from Basin 2-Way for around $9.00 ea and build one from scratch with coax cable that Lloyd has said he will give us [ain't he a cool dude]. Radio Shack can get them. They had one in stock. And of course Amazon has a selection as well. It's my personal opinion we should build the entire rig and not rely on anything pre-built - but that is up to the group. Either way that's the one part in the whole project that we have to have that is particularly unique aside from coax.

I have a soldering iron and we probably need one more - this won't be an issue for us. I also have a pair of tin snips in my toolbox in the Jeep at all times, so that is covered. But the tape measure is another issue. I wanted to find just the replacement tape (blade) that you can put into a used tool that has broken. But it turns out to be cheaper to just get a 'cheap' tape measure. Wal-Mart has the best deal on 25' ones for less than $3.00 - the plans call for 114 inches (9.5') appx of tape per antenna. So if we make our cuts right we can probably get five antennas out of two tape measures. During the meeting I think I had a count of 8 people interested. And at least one other has shown interest and we may have some more before we're done. I say we get four tape measures along with all the other parts listed and a corresponding amount of PVC pipe. Left over material might be used the next time we have a Boy Scout meet or something for the kids to do. We also need solid core copper wire - best buy was at Higgenbotham. 12ga for $0.29 per foot.

Okay guys - that's the progress so far. Any comments or suggestions are certainly welcome. I've put the parts price breakdown on a separate page HERE so you can print it out without all the information contained here. Oh - and we are using the plans from the link above... HERE it is again to take a look. Scroll down until you see the three printable pages.

Anyone have an antenna analyzer we can put on these things when done?

Until the next update and when we get around to scheduling a meet up at the clubhouse to get building...


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