-------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright, (c) 1997 Ed Loranger, we6w. All rights reserved. This article may be distributed freely providing it remains intact in its entirety. http://www.qsl.net/we6w -------------------------------------------------------------- I guess we're all pretty busy getting ready for field day! I spent all day getting a homebrew vertical built for my son Chris, kf6jxb. (16 Yrs old). We don't have a site yet, but even if it's the backyard, a tent (Who sleeps?), we'll be working 2B. Ok, don't have a lot of money, so those old aluminum tubes used in an old sun tarp damaged in a wind storm a few years back are what I used. Problem was, only a few could nest. Had to figure out a way to couple the poles to get the 33 or so foot height. Then guy the thing. Ended up cutting a bunch of 6-1/2 inch sections from one of the larger tubes. Hacksawed completely across the long axis vertically of each 6-1/2 inch section. Then compressed one of the edges underneath to form what looked like a rolled up newspaper. (But not tight!) Was able to hand-compress and easily slide into an end of each section. It all goes together nicely (And comes apart easily too!) Guyed the thing with braided twine about 2/3 the way up (22 FT). Wound the three sections of twine arund 7 inch long pvc pipe for storage. The twine was about 50 feet each leg. Setup (One person, really!) Asked everyone to help.... But its the little red hen' (Who will help me plant the wheat? Tend?, Harvest, Thresh..... Wait til my boy asks for help to put the thing up, hi! Drilled a hole in a 2x4 for the stake at the base. Larger hole around this to sink the mast into. Laid the 2/3 length at different 120 deg. angles and set the 3 guying stakes. To get the proper guying length: Lay 2/3 of the pole from center to the stake. Walk from stake, to center and almost 1/2 way back. Hold string tightly , so you won't lose your place, and wrap about 15 turns around the stake. Repeat remaining 2 legs. Raising the vertical: Pushed up a manageable section and with the two remaining 6 ft. sections very close, inserted each section in order. This was very easy, since The last section pushes up and the three guy lines were nearly dead on. I made the rounds to each of the stakes and readjusted the line as necessary. +/- 6 inches in this instance. Base Secured: 2 foot broom handle pounded into the hole drilled in the 2x4. Base carefully lifted over the broom handle, (Should have done this before tightening the guy lines, hi.) Re-adjusted guy tension. The kicker: Nice 1 watt qso to UTAH, very strong. Results: Nice one-person installation of a 40 Meter Band mast vertical. BTW: Had a great qso with Albany,NY the other nite. I used my other similar vertical, he had a 3 el yagi and 50 Watts. I was running 3.5 Watts. Well, just have to Guy my other vertical and we're set. (And find a 12 volt light I needed to copy in the dark with the HW-8!) -Ed Loranger ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Seems a lot of people were interested on how I did this. Probably get to work on actual materials list etc. Everything about this antenna screams "AFFORDABLE!". Except for the masons 70 lb test BRAIDED Chalk LINE, it's all home-brew. For Construction, I know you'll need: (For a 40 Meter Antenna) 1) Small Bench vice to hold the tubing sections. 2) Good hacksaw for cutting the tubing lengthwise. 2A) Aluminum file. 3) Drill and bits. (I use my MAKITA for just about everything.) 4) 9 four-foot sections of same diameter aluminum tubing, 1-1/4". NOTE: It is a bonus to get 1 foot sections with tapers on each end. 5) Three 10 inch Tent Stakes --> The NAIL Type. 6) 4 foot of 1/2 inch or 3/8 inch PVC Pipe for winding the extra Guying line onto. Also slips over Guying stake and makes the stake location more visible. 7) Three 50-ft lengths of Yellow, BRAIDED MASON's line. NOTE: Do NOT use the UN-braided/Stranded stuff! Will unravel. 8) 16 or so inch 2x4 redwood or any old wood. 9) 3 foot broom handle or so support stake. 10)BNC-to-red/black alligator clip adaptor. (Coax to antenna) 11)3 feet of 1/4 inch copper tubing. (icemaker type will do) NOTE: Solder about 16 or 20 loops of tinned wire, evenly spaced onto the copper tubing. Don't seal the tubing end. Just bend the copper tubing into a circle using a kitchen flour container etc. This open circle of copper tube, with little loops soldered to it will be used to clip radial onto. 12) 500 Feet of 18 awg speaker wire. (To make radials) NOTE: Start with What wire you have and cut to 35 foot lengths, then solder an aligator clip to one end. Add radials as you can afford to buy more wire. Think possible portability. Flexible speaker wire is easier to roll up and take with you. 12) 4 to 32 alligator clips -- for Radials. 13) 10 inches of 3/8 inch rope. (Tie guy wires to this at about 22 feet up the mast. Drill two holes about 5/8 inch diameter into the mast at the 22 ft height. These holes should be spaced vertically by about 2 inches, with the top hole about 1/3 circumference rotated from the bottom hole. This will preserve the strength of the section without weakening it. I'm feeding the antenna at the base. From my rig I am using commercial LAN BACKBONE COAX -- The real expensive stuff with bullett-proof Shield :) A N-type to BNC adaptor is at the end, and I have a bnc to alligator clips that goes from the coax to the antenna connection. I just drilled a hole at the base aluminum section and clip there. The Black lead clips to one of the loops on the copper ground that encircles the base of the antenna. Oh, the aluminum file is used to clean up the Male ends of tubing for a fit that disassembles easily. Also, you will find a seam in the Female ends that should be filed with a regular file. I'm getting GREAT Results with this antenna. I will send more information if I missed anything. -Ed Loranger ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Tubing List: I did some length measurements on my antenna after tuning to 1:1 VSWR on 40/20/15. Your antenna should have these lengths of 1-1/4 inch diameter aluminum tubing for use without a tuner. FREQ Tube length. VSWR 40M 29'-10.5" 1.05:1 7000 to 1.5:1 vswr at 7170. 20M 15'-8" 1:1 at 14060 and usable the whole band.** 15M 10'-6" 1:1 at 21060 and usable the whole band.** **NOTE: only time enough to scrutinize 40M. But 20/15 were very good match 1.5:1 most the band. Field Day Ready! In order to change to these different lengths, some of your aluminum tubes should have different lengths to allow band changing. Here's a bill of materials that works: QTY Electrical Length Actual Length (each tube) 5 ea. 4' Female-Female 4 feet 1 ea. 33.5 inch M-Female 3 feet 1/2 inch 3 ea. 30.5 inch M-Female 2 feet 9.5 inches 3 ea. 15 inch M-M 1 foot 8.5 inches 1 ea. 0 inch M-M coupler 0 feet 6.5 inch ========================================================== Set aside one 4' section and the 6.5 inch M-M coupler. NOTE: Coupler is hand made, Cut 6.5 inch off extra tubing. Hacksaw the 6.5 inch piece along the long axis, BUT DONT cut the tube IN HALF!!! Set the 6.5 in. tube (Now with a slot), in a Bench Vise and Curl the bottom end a little at a time along its length until it will curl and fit snugly in one of the 4 foot Female sections. Build the antenna with the remaining Tubing. For each of the Bands you will have an antenna, and some left over tubing to set aside. BAND Tubing left over 40 M One (4' F-F) section, One (6.5 inch hand-made coupler). 20 M Three (4' F-F), Three (20.5" M-M), One (3' M-F). 15 M Five (4' F-F), Three 20.5" M-M). And, for my regular station installation, I use these sections, un-guyed and Just slide it up/down to change bands. (Removing sections as needed.) The top portion goes through a 1x6" board with a large doorknob sized hole drilled through. The board is Screwed to the roof of our house. The base just slides into a 2x4 with a Counter Sunk area of the wood so the bottom doesn't rattle around. That's it! And a lot of fun to build. Enjoy Ham Radio, Built it yourself! Ed Loranger