ZL1RS - Antennas

The 'initial plan' was for two 6.4m lattice tower sections supporting a 10m tall rotating mast to stack antennas. That supported a 3-stack array of 5 element 6m Yagis used from Sept 2021 until May 2022.

The 3-stack array performed well but the wide azimuth pattern of the array collected noise from power lines and dairy sheds around the district, and the sway in the tall rotating mast was a concern during high winds at this hill top location ... so here is the revised plan:




2021 ... the additional lattice tower section (a home made copy of the original two sections) was cleaned up and painted:



May/June 2022 ... the rotating mast and 3-stack array has gone and the 3rd section of lattice tower with a 2nd set of guys has been added:


early June 2022 ... the feedline was upgraded to a single run of 5-50 Heliax right into the shack. One of the old "3-stack" 5 element 6m Yagis was temporarily installed to test the rotator and feedline before installing an 8 element 6m Yagi with a nice 'clean' pattern:





mid June 2022 ... the 5 element Yagi was removed and the 8 element 6m Yagi with a nice 'clean' pattern was installed:





The lattice tower is raised and lowered with a 'falling derrick' system using my tractor as the winch: