dx Archives - Page 2 of 2 - Torlo

Aluma T-75XHD tower install

By Tor | September 4, 2022 - 8:15 am |March 25, 2023 Amateur Radio

Comments Off

Aluma T-75XHD tower install:

The tower finally came in, and I didn’t waste any time before starting to dig.

The 6″ hole was dug using a 1 ft bit with two extensions. It got heavy after a while, so used the tractor to lift it up after the bit filled up.

Nice and smooth all the way down.

Again, used the tractor to lift the massive MP2 pole into the hole, and proceeded to level it up.

Nice and level.

A couple of weeks later, and the pole is set completely back-filled and hard-packed all the way up to the surface.Tower carefully strapped underneath the bucket using plenty of wood for support. Yaesu 1000 DXA rotator and mast already installed.

Beautiful…

Cabinet in place, containing coax poly-phasers, roter control arrestor, and other equipment.

Fully extended to 70 ft.

This was an easy two person job, with the help from my lovely wife. She was doing the supervising. This install was a long time coming. Now for the next stop, getting the Optibeam OB 12-4 yagi installed on top, using a crane. More to come.

9/16/2022: Finally got the crane in to lift the Optibeam up in the air, and bolted onto the nested tower. What a beautiful sight.

Yours truly bolting the antenna to the mast plate.

Now on to digging a trench for pvc, and pull cables.

Business end

Trenched in a few minutes, about a foot deep.

Started working in the tower cabinet. Connected up the Poly Phasers and the rotor control lightning arrester. Plenty of space in there to add a 4-position coax switch a little later. I added a 120 V feed into the cabinet to enable the use of a 120 V electric winch. Cranking this thing up using a manual worm gear winch that was supplied by Aluma, gets old pretty fast.

Almost done. Need a RatPak antenna switch in there.

All Done….

Optibeam OB 12-4 HF antenna assembled

By Tor | July 12, 2022 - 7:53 pm |March 25, 2023 Amateur Radio

Comments Off

Finally got the Optibeam OB 12-4 HF antenna assembled and ready to be installed on a tower. This thing is built like a tank, weighing in at about 140 lbs. 40, 20,15 and 10 meter bands. Can not wait to get this beast installed and up to 75 feet.

25 ft boom, Longest elements are the 40 meter elements at about 50 ft.

Digging holes in the ground – DX Engineering 80m vertical install

By Tor | October 12, 2021 - 6:32 am |March 25, 2023 Amateur Radio

Comments Off

Digging a hole for the first DX Engineering 80 meter 1/4 wave vertical. Hopefully this will be the first dig out of 4 for a 80 meter 4-square phased vertical array. Each antenna requires a huge radial field, as seen from the short cut circle around the dig. 60 radials, each 65 feet long, for a total of 3840 feet of radial wire.

The vertical is currently on backorder, so I’ll have time to dig the 300+ feet trench back to the shack. We’ll use “Betsy” to make the trench. 1 1/2 inch pvc will house the LMR-400 coax line, to keep it from the critters. More to come.

A piece of art. DX Engineering radial ground plate. First class parts, and first class service. Great company. Waiting for the concrete to cure, and continue to get some 1 1/2 inch PVC pipe in the ground to pull the LMR-400 Coax through. Then the real fun starts. Stretching out radials. A lot of them.