Im sure youll find that drill press useful for a great many things.
The backbone wood pole will eventually rot.
SBGH6 build
Have my first SBGH up & working. Really enjoyed building it - this writeup somewhat less so But here are the details, basically payback of sorts for all the people that helped me.
I got a drill press off kijiji for $50 to drill the holes in the pole. I tried it with my handheld & there was just NO WAY.
First, here is a pic of the overall package;
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I'll admit I used an 8' wooden pole (Rona). I read that antennas are forgiving of vertical metal poles, however, there is a gap in the SBGH reflectors for a reason and I didn't want the pole interfering. So, instead of building an antenna & then strapping it to a pole, I built an antenna ON a pole.
A bit closer;
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The 1/4 aluminum reflector rods (Metal Supermarket) are held in place with plastic faucet plumbing tubes, (credit Effects here http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?p=816340&highlight=easily+SBGH#post816340 )
The reflector rods fit into the plastic faucet plumbing tubes but I suspected they would sag overtime. Thus I embedded 1/4 inch fiberglass rods in the faucet tubes in the gaps between the reflectors, just cut them to "gap size" then pounded the rods in on either side for perfect separation and to keep the rods, um, perky.
The yellow rod visible above is 3/8 fiberglass from RONA. It sits in a grey plastic tee also from RONA. The 3/8 fiberglass rod extends out from the pole into the tee as well (sorry not visible in the pic) and the another (visible) rod extends out of both sides of the tee for the element to attach to via plastic ties.
The 3/8 fiberglass rod needs a bit of tape around it to be snug in the plastic tee. This is fine, it makes the distance between the reflectors & element "fine-tunable".
It's on my roof & working. A bit early to tell if it outperforms my cm4221. Moving on to an M4 and some incarnation of GH + VHF-HI next.
But here are the details, basically payback of sorts for all the people that helped me.I got a drill press off kijiji for $50 to drill the holes in the pole. I tried it with my handheld & there was just NO WAY.
First, here is a pic of the overall package;
I'll admit I used an 8' wooden pole (Rona). I read that antennas are forgiving of vertical metal poles, however, there is a gap in the SBGH reflectors for a reason and I didn't want the pole interfering. So, instead of building an antenna & then strapping it to a pole, I built an antenna ON a pole.
A bit closer;
The 1/4 aluminum reflector rods (Metal Supermarket) are held in place with plastic faucet plumbing tubes, (credit Effects here http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?p=816340&highlight=easily+SBGH#post816340 )
The reflector rods fit into the plastic faucet plumbing tubes but I suspected they would sag overtime. Thus I embedded 1/4 inch fiberglass rods in the faucet tubes in the gaps between the reflectors, just cut them to "gap size" then pounded the rods in on either side for perfect separation and to keep the rods, um, perky.
The yellow rod visible above is 3/8 fiberglass from RONA. It sits in a grey plastic tee also from RONA. The 3/8 fiberglass rod extends out from the pole into the tee as well (sorry not visible in the pic) and the another (visible) rod extends out of both sides of the tee for the element to attach to via plastic ties.
The 3/8 fiberglass rod needs a bit of tape around it to be snug in the plastic tee. This is fine, it makes the distance between the reflectors & element "fine-tunable".
It's on my roof & working. A bit early to tell if it outperforms my cm4221. Moving on to an M4 and some incarnation of GH + VHF-HI next.
1 - 6 of 6 Posts
The backbone wood pole will eventually rot.
I did apply some minwax polyurathane to the pole, which is 1 1/2" in diameter and hardwood if I recall correctly & quite sturdy. I wish I'd painted it grey as it's kinda bright.
There are also guy wires on it on my roof to prevent sway on windy days. To be honest, I'm not 100% sure if the rare problems with my old 4221 setup had to do with the trees 50M in front of the antenna swaying, or the antenna itself swaying.
It's nice to work with wood. Initially I'd planned this as a practise build, but it turned out a little better then I expected so I put it up. I do plan to use the square fibreglass poles from Maple Leaf Communications mlord noted for my next build.
There are also guy wires on it on my roof to prevent sway on windy days. To be honest, I'm not 100% sure if the rare problems with my old 4221 setup had to do with the trees 50M in front of the antenna swaying, or the antenna itself swaying.
It's nice to work with wood. Initially I'd planned this as a practise build, but it turned out a little better then I expected so I put it up. I do plan to use the square fibreglass poles from Maple Leaf Communications mlord noted for my next build.
You are more in the know then me, but, I'll bet you an million imaginary dollars they do not.
1 - 6 of 6 Posts
