Pix tomorrow.
I think I'm going to have to lengthen the base legs. I'll get another 3 pieces of angle iron that size, overlap them, clamp them together, and then drill them. Right now they're only 6' long, and even with a 50lb bag of sand on each leg, it might not be enough to keep it from tipping over.
I still have to fabricate some ground radials, and then I can install the autocoupler and line isolator, along with the feedline and control cable for the autocoupler.
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Merry Christmas - <i>He Is Born</i> -
I'd like to wish my friends here a very Merry Christmas, and a very Happy New Year. We'll be having our Christmas Dinner with family...
You have a decent weather window though high winds are forecast for Wyoming.
ReplyDeleteAs of 2200 local time, they're forecasting wind gusts as high as 41mph for later Sunday.
ReplyDeleteWe have the little one's first birthday party on Sunday from noon to 1500. I might just blast over to Home Depot after the smoke clears and get some angle iron.
Busy busy... :-)
ReplyDeleteI just hope it works with only 4~6 ground radials!
DeleteThat's about the critical number. Length and position aren't critical. If you're near a corner, they can go to the obstacle and then change direction. There were some big simulations of this in QST, IIRC. It does have an effect on pattern, but it's better to have a handful of non-ideal radials than not put any down because they can't be perfect.
DeleteI agree 100%, SiG. The manual for the SGC autocoupler goes into this in detail. They recommend as many radials as possible, but say two is the minimum. They also say to make the radials 1/3 longer than the radiating element to ensure the coupler can match it properly, so I'm going to fab and install six 50' radials, running them as straight as practical, but with no qualms whatsoever about "bending" them to fit the yard.
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