BOOTY 4

[BOOTY MONSTER]

got a little done today .
here's the loop with the new brackets on it .

here's the loop , bracket , tube and rod all together minus the hose clamps .
i took great pains to keep them straight so i really hope they line up right . it all ties together rock solid now . the excess bolt thread will be cut off .

heres a pic of the basket and the pipe with the lower bracket .

ive still got to drill the plate , attach the basket tubes to the bottom bracket with two bolts like the tubes on the top bracket , make a strap better than the hose clamp ...... and add some swr cream

 

[Superidgit]

ive still got to drill the plate , attach the basket tubes to the bottom bracket with two bolts like the tubes on the top bracket , make a strap better than the hose clamp ...... and add some swr cream

I thought the Blue SWR ceam was better then red.

Lookin Good cant wait to see it up in the air!!

Question for ya, when you start adjusting SWR on this antenna or I guess one that is premade how does it get done?

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

thanks Superidgit . the blue swr cream probably is better , but i just run a 2 pill and the blue is so expensive . i hope the red holds up for me

it will use a gamma match for tuning . the length of the vertical and basket elements can be adjusted also .

 

[HomerBB]

Looks great, Booty.
Git er dun.

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

i used some 1 1/2 x 1/16 strip to make a strap to hold bottom brackets to the vertical .

i think it looks much better than 2 or 3 hose clamps would have and it's definitely stronger . supposed to get together with my bud this evening and get the 2 1/8 inch hole saw bit . once i get the big hole drilled in the plate i have to attach the bottom basket tubes to the brackets with the plate . put on the basket and get it straight then attach the gamma tap arm . i'll go ahead and cut the excess bolt threads off to .

 

[HomerBB]

Booty, I'm not sure why you want to put a plate on the bottom for your coax connector. What you have already is certainly strong enough. I'd place a kidney shaped piece of aluminum plate between two of your radial angles in that flat part between the vertical and the angled bend and put the SO-239 in it.

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

but actually ..... the plate really isn't needed . i had thought of just running the 1 inch strips from tabs for the bottom of the basket radials to split to better contact the vertical pole and strip a chunk or plate with a couple of 45 degree bends a inch apart . a lil tab could hold the stud .
but i like the little plate idea . everything attaches to one solid point with lots of surface area for those connections .

it could definitely be made without the plate . i thought of doing like you said , but the plate will lock everything in place at the bottom and keep it all symmetrical . and ive already got the plate so i may as well do something with it . i also think it will look bad azz

 

[HomerBB]

No doubt it will be all of the above.
It's looking great so far!

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

the plate also makes it easy for me to do a few little different things i haven't mentioned yet too

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

finally got the plate done and attached . heres a view from the top .

and here's one from the bottom .

the reason the main hole is so big is because i'm gonna order two more sections (1 3/4 & 1 7/8) of tubing to double wall the two bottom sections down the road a lil bit . i also want to get a better stud mount somewhere along the way too . . the hole was made with a 2 inch hole saw bit .

 

[HomerBB]

Now I get it, Booty.
It's exactly what I was thinking but all the way around. You're right, it's stronger, and looks great!

 

[Marconi]

Looking very good Booty, I like your design ideas.

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

thank you OGP . my original plans didn't didn't' provide the strength i thought they would so i had to re-think things and start over again . i just need to get nine more nuts , bolts and washers (and drill the holes for them) and i can finally get it together . .........assuming my x works like i think it will .

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

here's how i'm putting the basket elements on and trying to keep them straight .

there's a 2 inch slit in the bottom of each 5 1/2 ft tube for the 2 inch tab to go onto . i drill a 1/8 inch pilot hole in the middle of the slit about a 1/2 inch or so from the bottom straight through . then i slip it over the tube holding it in the center at the bottom and use the same bit to to go through the tab . i take the bit out the drill and drop it through the three holes to hold it in place . i then use a piece of tape (i had duct tape) to hold the element in position along the vertical . then i take out the 1/8 bit and use a 1/4 inch bit to drill the hole through and and install the 1/4 SS nut washers and bolt . then i do the second one above it . its a little time consuming , but it seems to be doing what i want .

 

[HomerBB]

Nice and clean looking.