Added two new beverage receive antennae – southeast and southwest.
Southeast is 580 feet long.
Southwest is 480 feet long.
Installed them both 2 feet above the existing beverages for NE and NW using PVC pipe as a vertical standoff.
Improved beverage transformer and terminations by having printed circuit boards made, and placing them inside enclosures, rather than leaving them exposed to the weather. Gas discharge tubes to help protect from surges due to lightning strikes. DC blocking capacitor is also included on the feed point. Thanks to Steve, VE6WZ for the inspiring YouTube video, along with the KiCad files to get started!
Built a home-brew EZ-Way Wonder Post to ground-mount the EZ-Way Tower that had been on my utility trailer as a portable tower. This 50-foot tower will be used for 6 meters, 2 meters, and 70 centimeters. I rebuilt a Ham-II rotator for this project.
From the EZ Way brochureHome-brew EZ Way Wonder Post, using 6-inch diameter Schedule 40 galvanized pipe. Five feet of pipe is in the ground, with vanes at the bottom and just below ground level. Cable routing for the tilting function
6-meter antenna is a Hygain VB-66DX – 6 elements on a 24-foot boom.
Don’t yet know what will go up for 2m and 70cm.
Freshly installed EZ-Way tower on the left. On the right is the home-brew tilt-over tower, 45 feet tall with 5 elements on a 30-foot boom for 17 meters. At the center, 225 feet away from the camera is Tower #1.
Matt, the beverage antennas rock. On 160m, it is the only way to listen. However, on 80m, the new-in-2020 transmit/receive 4-square also works really well for receive. I’m offering a set of the PC boards (no components) for beverage match and termination for $10 to US addresses.
How are your beverage antennas performing? I’m thinking adding a similar antenna at my home QTH here in Minnesota.
Matt, the beverage antennas rock. On 160m, it is the only way to listen. However, on 80m, the new-in-2020 transmit/receive 4-square also works really well for receive. I’m offering a set of the PC boards (no components) for beverage match and termination for $10 to US addresses.