[WARC] Witoka Tower Beam Installation
Paul Rehm
wd0q4u at gmail.com
Mon Nov 13 06:40:11 CST 2023
Sounds amazing, Mike!
On Sun, Nov 12, 2023, 12:34 PM Mike Foerster via WARC <warc at w0ne.org> wrote:
>
>
> With a great deal of thanks to Dan, WK0W, Justin, KF0BSI, Austin KFOLMB
> and Paul, AD9UU as well as my son Tony, KE0PXI, we managed to get the
> club’s tri-band beam, a Mosley Classic 33, setup at the Witoka site. This
> beam covers the 20, 15 and 10 Meter bands. The rotor is a Yaesu G-800SA
> with some cable that was donated by Skip, K7YOO. I was able to splice the
> pieces and get it connected up and working at my home QTH.
>
>
>
> We mounted the beam on a 20 foot pole with a thrust bearing at the top,
> and 4 ropes to keep the mast vertical. The beam height is about 25’.
> There is also a thrust bearing, thanks to Mike, W0VTT at the top of the
> stand.
>
>
>
> We decided that mounting it in front of the gate would get to close to the
> AC Power line pole coming into the shack, so we moved it to just north of
> the perimeter fence. With the crew of 6, we could raise and lower the
> assembled antenna quite easily and quickly. There was a bit of discussion
> about setting the tower exactly vertical, but with the help of a shovel in
> Justin’s truck we were able to quickly straighten it out. The mast was
> guyed with some ropes using a sliding knot, allowing for easy length
> adjustment. Once set, the ropes were locked in place with tie wraps to
> keep them from sliding. Using the rotor controller (manually), the beam
> turns as it should. I checked the rotation and cables, and everything
> appears OK.
>
>
>
> The beam is set in the field just north of the perimeter fence.
>
>
>
> The SWRs were quite satisfactory.
>
> These images were taken from the IC-7300 SWR function.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> The beam is pointed to the EAST for now (Eastern US & Europe). We don’t
> currently have the capability to turn the beam remotely, but hopefully, if
> it gets used a lot, we may be able to purchase a serial port add-on to
> allow user access to the rotor remotely.
>
>
>
> A few years ago, I built an automatic antenna switch, similar to the one
> that was described in the article that I wrote in the Nov/Dec issue of NCJ
> magazine. With this, changing bands will automatically change the
> antennas. I modified the code in the Arduino so that the beam will
> automatically be connected if you use the 20, 15 or 10 meter bands. Due to
> the operation of the IC-7300, the 17m and 12m bands will operate off the
> beam. This antenna match will be through the LDG Antenna tuner we have
> connected up.
>
>
>
> We will need to remove the beam from the field sometime next summer
> (probably before the field is mowed), but hopefully, it can remain for
> about 6 months or more.
>
>
>
> Have Fun!
>
>
>
> 73,
>
> Mike, W0IH
>
>
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>
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