Hi everyone - thanks to the help I received from Colin Newell, Nick Hall-Patch, Mark Durenburger and others, the DKAZ is now up and operative. Not a trivial antenna to assemble and get going! I thought that it would be best if I started with a basic one (non-reversible) and then added reversability later if I want. All the interesting stuff is off one end anyway since I am at the end of the continent. The antenna is 'pointed' at about 60 degrees which should take in Europe, the Middle East, and North and West Africa. I did some null testing a few minutes ago and with Colin's Vactrol was able to drop a couple of stations mid-band about 40 dB as indicated by the IF Spectrum of the ELAD.
I ended up running CAT5 to both ends (250ft to the Vactrol, 400ft to the other end). I used 9:1 transformers at the antenna and at the house and the amp is inside. I also ended up replacing the BNC jacks on the Vactrol unit with banana jacks, which are easier to use coming off the antenna and with the CAT5. I have a bunch of spare pairs of course, so when I decide to add relays it shouldn't be that difficult. I'm thinking of using one of the pairs going to the Vactrol to feed an ohmmeter in the house so I can see real time what resistance is being inserted, but for now I just have the pair hanging in the breeze so to speak. One of the issues I had was how to get the cables into the house without drilling holes in the walls or disturbing the aesthetic sense of my wife - I also have a BNC termination for an ALA1530 and a N termination for a VHF log periodoc I use for FM, so a total of at least 4 cables had to come in. I also had to consider that it gets a little chilly here in the winter and so couldn't simply close the window (it slides up and down) on the cables because of the cold air getting in. What I did was get a piece of 3/8" Lexan the width of the window and 6" high and put bulkhead connectors for the BNC and N cables and holes for the other cables. I sealed it at the top and bottom with the weatherstripping used for storm doors and it seems at this point to be draftproof and since it's clear it looks just like the window, and there's plenty of space to add other bulkhead connectors or pass through holes when the antenna farm expands :-). I thought I'd pass this on in case anyone else was struggling with the same issue. Anyway, we'll see what happens in a few hours! Thanks again to everyone for your help and suggestions. Michael _______________________________________________ IRCA mailing list IRCA@hard-core-dx.com http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/irca Be sure to register now for the Joint DX Convention Kansas City, September 9 to 11. Hotel space is filling up. Registration info: http://www.nrcdxas.org Opinions expressed in messages on this mailing list are those of the original contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the IRCA, its editors, publishing staff, or officers For more information: http://www.ircaonline.org To Post a message: irca@hard-core-dx.com