What Can I Build With ...

[N8YX]

Think Marconi antenna with lots of radials.

That, or 125ft of Rohn 45 with a capacitance hat atop it.

Shunt-feeding the tower allows one to drape other antennas over the structure without drastically compromising the tuning and it also permits the structure to be DC-grounded.

[KJ3N]

Think Marconi antenna with lots of radials.

That, or 125ft of Rohn 45 with a capacitance hat atop it.

Shunt-feeding the tower allows one to drape other antennas over the structure without drastically compromising the tuning and it also permits the structure to be DC-grounded.

The Marconi is a lot cheaper, as long as you have trees. ;)

[N8YX]

The Marconi is a lot cheaper, as long as you have trees. ;)

True, and if I were going to erect a wire vertical I'd be tempted to build something like a cage monopole with, say, 12" sides. Its top hat would consist of at least two 20' wires run from the apex and used as part of the support system.

You could series-feed this one and use a remote tuning network as the base.

I have such a contraption. It was built by Cubic (Oceanside, CA) for use with the commercial/military versions of their Astro line. Completely waterproof and remote-controllable via the transceiver.

Might be an interesting set-up for future use. I would rather connect their S1000 HF amp to that control port...IF I could find one.

[kd8dey]

1005/f
1005/1.8= 558.3333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333 333333 feet so if your 500+/- will handle it you could do a 160m loop providing you have enough space and feed it with the ladder line to do the multi band thingie.

or if your not into the 160 crowd you could always do 80m (about 288 feet) using the ladder line for a matching stub (making it single banded) with over 200 feet of wire left over to play with along with the balun..........endless (almost) possibilities :)
or use the LMR-400 to redo your VHF/UHF vertical.......:)

[NQ6U]

I have such a contraption. It was built by Cubic (Oceanside, CA) for use with the commercial/military versions of their Astro line.

For anyone who doesn't know, Cubic is the company which bought the Swan line of ham gear. I have an old Cubic (Swan) ST-3B antenna tuner than I still use every time I'm in my shack.

[N8YX]

For anyone who doesn't know, Cubic is the company which bought the Swan line of ham gear. I have an old Cubic (Swan) ST-3B antenna tuner than I still use every time I'm in my shack.

I probably shouldn't hijack this thread...but...

Unless Rick Jacinth has somehow beat me out, I have in my possession the largest Cubic amateur gear collection on the planet. Some solid-state Swan stuff as well...which Cubic later re-branded. The Astro line is but one example.

ST-3B?

I have the 3...3B...3C (commercial model).

One of 20 "Cubic Kilowatt" rack-mount setups which were built. Included is an Astro-150R, PSU-7R, FP-7, ST-2R and a 1500ZR amp. I know where another is residing and am first in line to buy it. These cost north of $8k in 1982 dollars, or so I'm told.

Three Astro-DR "suitcase" setups. Two of these are complete with PSU-8s, battery pack/conditioners, ST-5 antenna tuners and all issued peripherals.

So many 150 and 102/103 series Astros that I've lost count. Tuners, PSUs and other peripherals included for each. Both amateur and commercial flavors. The 150 "C" commercial stuff covers some of the WARC bands, which the amateur versions did not.

2 1500ZA amplifiers. One is sitting in my shack at the moment, connected to my 7-line Drakes. It's the functional equivalent of an SB-200.

Etc.

Most was obtained broken and restored.

When working they're rugged as hell. The Astro 103 - when equipped with the 400hz CW filter - is one of the best rigs I've ever used on CW.

[W5GA]

But, will any of them stay on frequency?

[N8YX]

But, will any of them stay on frequency?

When they're properly aligned (the voltage regulator adjustment being the most critical) and from a cold start, the Astro 10x series will drift ~200hz before settling down. If you change bands, a similar amount of drift will be experienced.

After that they're almost as stable as a synthesized rig. Better than my 7-line Drakes and 820 series Kenwoods.

The 15x series will drift a total of 75hz after power-on then hold frequency indefinitely. Which is understandable because both oscillators used in their PLL chain are crystal reference.

The Astro-DR series simply will not drift. They incorporated a TCXO, which is a two-edged sword: The PLL divider chain is 4000 series CMOS and CMOS does not like hot environs. Thus, one of mine is due for a PLL rebuild...

[N1BHH]

An Off Center Fed antenna with one leg of 90 feet and one of 180 feet will work well, fed with coax via a 4:1 or 6:1 balun will work very well. Double the length of each leg and you'll get very good coverage up through 160 meters. I may soon be building the 8 band variety using one or the other balun and fed with coax for my as yet purchased new HF rig. I have the wire, just waiting for the baluns and I'll be ready come the day to fire it up. I have done much research on it and this looks promising. Take a look at this page: http://www.buckscom.com/windom.htm

[W3MIV]

One leg of 180' and the other of 360' takes up most of my surrounding neighbors' yards. Don't think I would be able to hide it well enough.