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Monday, July 14, 2014

Scrap wood, some wire, four fishing poles and an old tripod: Moxon Update

 
It is not up on the roof yet, but we are getting close.   Above you can see he center "hub" -- just some scrap plywood and 8 u bolts.


 
Here is how I handled the corners.  The coil thing is from the end of a bungee cord. It makes for easy disassembly. 

 
 
 
Here is how the mast connects to the hub.  I had some 1x1 scrap wood. The 1x1 will be U-bolted into the rotator.  


 
 


 
Made of wire and fishing poles, Moxons are not very photogenic.  But I think mine looks great.  The 17 meter version is quite small. 
 


 
A bit of a balun.  Just to keep RF currents off the outside of the braid.
 



 
That tripod was last aloft in the Dominican Republic (1992-1996!).  Two spray cans of flat black paint have been applied.  Stealth!  

 
Four 16 foot "crappie" telescoping fiberglass poles purchased from Amazon.   

 
The only thing holding me up at this point is a safety concern.  The roof has a somewhat steep pitch, and I am not at agile as I used to be.   So before I install this magnificent sky hook I'm getting one of those roof safety harness systems that roof workers are supposed to use (but rarely do).  This sill also benefit the poor fellow who comes to clean our gutters.  



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3 comments:

  1. Looks good, Bill.

    You might want to put a coat of polyurethane
    on that plywood center section...
    I've had plywood up in the air before,
    and it starts to delaminate after a year or so of exposure.
    Easier to protect it now, than rebuild later!

    Bill N5AB

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nice work, Bill! Antennas are some of the easiest things to build, and as you have just proven, can be made from a variety of "found" materials/recyclables. I'm surprised more people don't make their own.

    DaveL
    KF7JAF

    ReplyDelete
  3. Bill, thanks for mentioning the roof safety harness systems. I'm, well, old, but I'd never heard of such a thing for use on a residential roof, and I'd certainly never seen anyone using one. But I found them easily with a little web searching. You can bet I'll employ one the next time I make the climb.

    ReplyDelete

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