PROGRESS OF BOOTY-PLANE VERSION 2

[BOOTY MONSTER]

YouTube - PROGRESS OF BOOTY-PLANE VERSION 2

sorry about the video quality , i was using a old canon digital camera .
yea , my fat azz was tired so i was breathing hard . LOL

i miss-spoke on the video , the ground elements are 56 1/2 inches . the red wire is finely stranded 8 gauge power wire ..... ill have to make it shorter since i don't have to reach out to a tuning ring now . there's stainless steel nuts , bolts and washers where the coil connects to the vertical and the 1/8 inch aluminum plate with SS washers between them so there shouldn't be any oxidation between the copper and aluminum because they're touching . ill also put some noalox on them . i think i recall seeing 1/12 inch wide aluminum strips at lowes that i want to put on the bottom of those u-clamps to keeping them from spreading when i tighten them down ...... i also might put a 3rd u-clamp on each one since they're so cheap ....... just because....

BTW.............
if i solder the 8 gauge to the copper coil when i find the correct tuning point should that be ok exposed to the elements or should i put some permatex on it ?????

any suggestions are appreciated .

maybe the next time i move ill be somewhere that i can use eight 108-113 1/2 inch ground elements , 4 horizontal and 4 sloped .

 

[Robb]

Looks like you considerably improved the hardware used.
Looks really strong/sturdy.
Is this going to be a .64 or a 5/8 wave?

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

thanks robb , its a heavy beast LOL ..... the grey pieces are 5/4 solid plastic decking . it didn't warm up in the microwave so it seems to be non-conductive . as far a 5/8 or .64 im undecided . i think im gonna use a alligator clip to find the taping point and tune for lowest vswr and then play with the verticals length to see if there's a particular length that tunes lowest and re-checking the coil tuning as i go along . if that winds up being closer to a half wave than a 5/8 or .64 ill probally just go for 22 1/2 or 23 feet as long as its below 1.5 on the channels i use . i dont have access to a 259B so i cant acccurately tune it to be truly resonate , but hopefully it will still do .... good enough . and of course ill add a coax choke and most likely keep it isolated from the mast and earth ground .

 

[wavrider]

Booty,

I use liquid electricians tape to weather proof my connections, easy to apply just paint it on and it cures nice and solid, never had any problem with uv causing it to deteriorate.

I pick mine up at ace hardware but lowe's or depot should also have it.

 

[Robb]

Just some thoughts . . .

I'll bet the tuning coil isn't going to see much difference between a .64 and a 5/8. So, I would put up the .64 just because I could - and possible reaping all of the advantages that I had available to me.

Tuning for impedance can best be accomplished with your radials; right? I'm a bit puzzled why they are short and some are sloping. I know that either one can use four full-length ground planes -er 'bootyplanes'- or eight half-length radials. Just cannot figure out why some are sloped and some are horizontal. Covering all bases?

Not that I know that much about antennas; but if it were me I would start out with four 1/4 wave gp elements and THEN tune the coil for the right tap point.
Thoughts?

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

i had four 113 1/2 inch horizontal but the home owner wasn't impressed with how far across the house they spread ..... he wasn't concerned about the height though . i needed to shorten the width of the ground elements so i decided id just cut them in half and do 4 horiz and 4 sloped . maybe down the road ill move somewhere that i can do all 8 a full 1/4 wave length ...... it wont be a problem to re-tune the coil if the swap changes the vswr unacceptably .

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

when i use the alligator clip on the end of the wire to find the best tuning point on the coil and i take it off to solder the wire on to that place will the inch to inch and a half of difference in length that taking the clip off 8 gauge make any difference that i need to take into consideration ? ill probably only need 3 or 4 inches to reach the the right spot . im thinking i should keep it as short as possible .

 

[W5LZ]

Will the length of that alligator clip make any appreciable difference in tuning? Probably not, but it can. (Howz that for a definite maybe? )
I've gone through that sort of thing with a tap-able mobile antenna, and it did make a difference at times. One 'simple' way of not adjusting the length of that 'tap' is to just solder the dang alligator clip to the coil turn. Not that it's -the- way to do it, but it does work.
Another option to using that alligator clip (more trouble though) is to use the bolt-on clip thingys and a 'female' connector on the lead. Move the 'clip' thingy to the right spot on the coil, then just bolt it down tight.
I figure the 'best' way of doing it whatever is most convenient/easy for you. If there's only -one- way it can be done, then you're probably doing it wrong...
- 'Doc

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

heres a pic of the brackets i made .

the brackets are to keep the u-bolts from spreading . im gonna flip the u-bolts over so the threaded ends face up instead of down (as shown in the pic) .
the horizontal element will go between the bracket and the base plate up top and the sloped will go under the plate with the bottom of the u-bolt securing it in place .
i added a 3rd u-bolt to each set of ground elements to further beef up the fastening of the ground elements since they're so cheap

 

[Robb]

Looks like you are all ready to set the tuning point on the matching coil. Should be on the air pretty soon. There's skip out there, and has been for weeks. Fire that beast up so we can talk! BTW; what are your call numbers? Mine is 'world radio eleven'. Be listening for a QSO from that antenna you've built.

 

[HomerBB]

BM,
it looks really good. 183 NW Arkansas is listenin' for ya!

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

BTW; what are your call numbers? Mine is 'world radio eleven'. Be listening for a QSO from that antenna you've built.

im just a chicken bander so no real numbers . i use mr. 420 in virginia when calling skip though .

 

[loosecannon]

looks awesome!

only possible issue i see is the use of stranded wire going from the connector to the coil tap.

is this even an issue? i dont really know.

just for some reason my mind says that solid wire would be better here.
if anyone knows whether or not this makes any difference, please explain it.

do you have an analyzer to tune it with?

LC

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

looks awesome!

only possible issue i see is the use of stranded wire going from the connector to the coil tap.

is this even an issue? i dont really know.

just for some reason my mind says that solid wire would be better here.
if anyone knows whether or not this makes any difference, please explain it.

do you have an analyzer to tune it with?

LC

the plan is to use the same 1/4 inch copper tubing from the top of the stud to the coil .
ill use alligator clips with wire to find the best tapping/tuning point on the coil and then replace it with the copper tubing of the same length . but first i gotta get some sandpaper to have shinny clean aluminium when the vertical tubing meets for best contact . ill also use noalox on those connections .

thanks for the compliment

 

[loosecannon]

booty, having been on the forum with you for a while now, i know you are very thorough when doing research for projects like this.

maybe you can answer a few questions for me based on what you have learned from the gurus.

1. what made you decide to do the coil thing instead of the tuning ring like the maco V5/8 has?
did you find the coil has less loss?

2. it looks as though this antenna will be insulated from its support structure due to the nature of the materials used.
is this true?

3. will you be using a choke balun at the feedpoint?

thanks for any info,
LC