A little follow-up with my life in the fast lane... I move slowly, all considering, kind of like Ahab with a pair of shoes. I've been spending the better part of the last two weeks putting up a HI-Z 4-8Pro array.
If it were open space with good soil, all would have been done after the first 1-2 days. But no, I live in New England, the place where the Glacier's Gall Stones came to rest after it encountered Global Warming. The place I have to put the array in is like a Louisiana Bayou minus the standing water. It's a salt marsh and just a bit above sea level. I don't have an option where else to put it, this is it. We're known for Lyme disease, Lyme, CT is 10 miles west of here so tick protection is mandatory. Worse, this is Bambi's frolic-land and deer sign is everywhere. More, we're blessed to have West Nile and of course Zeka is getting all kinds of press. So pyrethrin and DEET 40 is the cologne de jour. You can't imagine the scale of the rocks here, it really boggles the imagination. So much stone 5" below the surface and muck on top of them. Some boulders above ground are the size of Volkswagens and most showing are like an iceberg with the greater mass underneath. This place has one other unusual issue in that in a storm surge, at high tide, salt water can get in there and will ruin everything. So to outwit the tide, I moved the amplifiers up inside the PVC tubes and used a rubber cap to hold the amp high enough that if the water rises, it won't reach the electronics as there will be an air pocket inside to keep everything out of harm's way. I posted this pic earlier of what I did: doctorgary.net/Hi-Z-8-Pro-3.jpg It will work just fine to keep the amps safe.. Of course there are the briars, brambles everywhere that are strong enough to stop an Iron Man in his tracks, not to mention the bittersweet vines that make walking in a straight line impossible. I staked out the proper placements for the 8 antennae, 4 times, before I found an acceptable spot rock-wise but the trees were unforgiving and ended up cutting down 7 rather large trees to make room. Of course the Poison Ivy is everywhere and the last spot I had to deal with branches & rock-wise had a hairy 5" root of Poison Ivy going up the tree with branches hanging out right in the way of the antenna. The Oak was too thick for my 20" chain saw so I had to remove the tree branches and the poison ivy. I couldn't reach the branches 20' up and my extendible saw/pruner could only reach the poison ivy. Ended up slicking the vine at knee level and leaving it die for a few days. I tried a rope saw but it got stuck 1/2" in and was useless. Then I remembered the extra elements I ordered from DXE and connected the large ones & duct taped the pruner to the aluminum and was able to reach the branches. Between the tree sawdust and the poison Ivy Sawdust, it was a glorious time. Finally , success! The local metal shop cut my aluminum angle for the ground/support rods, so today I hoped to sink all the angles, using a Stainless Steel angle as a probe to find what worked. Great success, I get to the last place I had marked out as correct, put the knapsack with all my tools down, pull out the SS angle and pound in the Aluminum and there it was, the sound like small Harley Davidsons on a mission from God, the ground wasps that I had put my knapsack down on their entrance were angry and knew I was to blame. Give me three good Honey Bee stings, one yellow Jacket sting but nothing inch for inch is more painful than these guys, they are just mean. They stung me several times and I proved Ahab can still run if the prize is worth enough. I couldn't get my tools, there were constantly 3-4 dozen of these in the air swarming everything I had laid down. Some Hornet killer later and I could get close enough with a stick to wrangle my tools out but the damage was done time-wise, I couldn't finish before dark. So I finished assembling the antennas, have them ready to connect to the controller and tomorrow I get to connect up all the coax, the terminals, everything outside and I'm good to go. My ear is the size of a Cauliflower but at last count it was Wasps 5, Gary 100, that wasp stuff really works... Looking forward to hearing with this marvellous Antenna system. Oh, and I left out so much more of the saga... ;) 73, Gary KA1J > I'm so close to being done with putting > this together. I have all 8 antennas made > @ 23' each the tip section is .5" and the > base is .850" I'm using a 3/4" fiberglass > rod as an insulator > > doctorgary.net/Hi-Z-8-Pro-1.jpg > doctorgary.net/Hi-Z-8-Pro-2.jpg > > I am having a conundrum with the placement > of the enclosure for the preamp mounted at > each antenna and need some advice. The > problem is I am at sea level and the > antennas will be mounted in a location > that will possibly get a storm surge > during a Hurricane, it ruined my remote > coax switch during Sandy from this very > reason. The preamp does have a silicone > gasket but if the amp gets submerged in > salt water, I'm sure it will get past the > terminals and ruin the amp. I have no > alternate choice, this is the location > where I have to put the array. > > Seeing the photo of the end cap on the PVC > tubing with the zip tie holding the amp in > place (to protect from rain & Snow), gave > me an idea for the solution; At the top of > the PVC tube, make two opposing holes, run > a loose loop of thin wire through and > twist together. Run the coax up & over the > wire to hold the amp elevated inside the > tube, all the way to the top. Use a rubber > cap with radiator clamp to secure the top > and make it truly airtight. Now if the > tide water from a storm surge encroaches, > there will be a pocket of air inside and > will be unable to push high enough to > reach the amplifier. I tried this with a > Mason jar and the water did not get very > high in the upside down jar. > > doctorgary.net/Hi-Z-8-Pro-3.jpg > > So here's the dilemma: As a further hedge > against water damage assuming there are > strong winds making waves (they would not > be breakers, just waves in the marsh) at > this time, I'd like to raise the placement > of the amplifier so it would be another > foot higher than standard placement which > is on the base below the insulator. This > would require me to clamp the PVC on the > antenna instead of the base. Can anyone > see how this might be a problem with > operation? > > Also, I'd like to spray camo paint on the > elements so they don't stand out. When the > leaves come down, I'd prefer the neighbors > not see the elements, they're nosy enough > as it is. I think I remember reading a > layer of paint on the element shouldn't > cause a problem, is this correct? > > Thanks & 73, > > Gary > KA1J _________________ Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband