Hi Mike, Jeff, et al.
You can use the email any way you like. I didn't take
pictures during construction, but wish I had. I didn't
anticipate the interest! I will be starting construction on
another one very soon and I promise I will get some
pictures this time.
What I didn't mention in my original email (because I wasn't
sure I could describe it adequately) is that I used a
slightly different approach to supporting the weight of the
antenna inside the radome. Perhaps this will be of interest
to someone, perhaps not. I will try to describe it, but
this is where a picture would help.
Refer to step 8 in the construction article. For 445 MHz the
half wave brass tube would be 13.25". I made mine about 17"
so the soldered connection to the RG-213 shield would be
below the decoupling sleeve. After soldering the feedline
braid to the brass tube, I put a 2" long piece of 1"
diameter heavy wall heat shrink (the type lined with hot
melt adhesive) over the joint and shrunk it in place. After
letting that cool, I placed a 1" length of the same shrink
tubing over the upper portion of the first piece. After
shrinking and cooling, the bottom edge of this piece
provides a "shoulder" which can be used to support the
weight of the antenna. I made a round disc from a piece of
1/4" thick delrin plate (other materials could be used)
with a hole in the center just large enough to slip over
the inner piece of heat shrink. I also drilled a couple of
1/4" holes in the disc for ventilation. Once the antenna is
in the radome, 3 or 4 small holes can be drilled through
the radome into the edge of this disc, so that it can be
secured into the radome with screws. Alternatively, the
screws can protrude through the radome just below the disc
to that it rests on top of the screws to carry the weight
of the antenna. Be sure the screws are not long enough to
damage the feedline. This method supports the weight from
the bottom while keeping the antenna base centered in the
radome.
Paul
On Sunday 31 October 2004 02:06 am, Mike WA6ILQ wrote:
> If Paul is amenable to it, I'll post his email as a web
> page indexed right under the original article. It will
> be a "One person's results" type of article (look at the
> 6m heliax duplexer article and it's "One implementation
> of the above design") for an example of what I have in
> mind.
>
> And I agree - a few photos would be nice to have.
>
> Mike WA6ILQ
>
> At 02:53 PM 10/30/04, you wrote:
> >Hey Paul,
> >
> > How about posting some pictures somewhere so we can
> > see your creation?
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Jeff
> > N1KDO
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Repeater-Builder/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
