Club Antenna Project Update – Everglades Amateur Radio Club

Well we finally did it! We got an HF antenna engineered, tested and installed thanks to a great team of members.
I will list all involved with the install at the end of this update but special mention to the two members that headed up the effort and coordination to get the job done. Alain K4KKC and Charlie N4CRE .
The plan was to spend the evening (overnight) after the Friday meeting to build the antenna and do the install during daylight on Saturday. The antenna selected was a "Off Center Fed" diploe to hang at peak about 60 feet off the ground at center and about 20 feet at its end. Total length with supports is greater than 1/2 a football field! Tower climbing, tree climbing, rigging and roof running were all skills and tasks tested during the event. And that was during daylight. During the evening until at least 3am, tasks included erecting a 30+ foot mast to support the construction and testing of the antenna. Quality wire, 6to1, 4to1 and 1to1 baluns were tested to produce the best results. A VNA (vector network analyzer) and a Rig Expert analyzer were used to record results as the antenna lengths were adjusted. Once the best combination was tested and approved the system was hardened to survive the harsh elements of the Florida sun and rain.
23 year old rum added cheer to the celebration.
On Saturday a 6 foot aluminum extension was installed at the 60 foot height of the tower to support the pully that will hoist the antenna system in palace and allow easy access for maintenance and experimentation. Tree savers with pullies and weights to allow for wind movement and tension protection were installed at each end. DONE!
Also to add to the list of tasks, the club shack was ridden of "stuff" we have collected over the years via the free flea which unfortunately did not gain much interest in the local amateur radio community. We were the only vendor. Club members had their pick of some pretty cool stuff like high tech testing equipment, beam antennas, mikes, radios, books, and cables.
We also made some space for a new club member to set up a GMRS repeater in the very near future. That will be another update soon, so stay tuned for that and hopefully promising reports on HF contacts with our new antenna.

If you have any let me know and I will add you to the dropbox share list.