Putting the “weep” in Lakshadweep
Hazer
A recently announced DXpedition to Lakshadweep (VU7M) had me briefly pondering whether I might be able to accelerate the Yagi-raising event that has been unfolding around here in super slo-mo.
The concrete base for the tower is now 48 hours old after all…..But, no – I’ve rushed things in the past and it never went well.
Must. Be. Patient.
To give myself the illusion of forward progress, I spent the morning assembling the Hazer. Most of the more negative reviews of Hazers have to do not with their construction or operability but rather with the ambiguity of the instructions and I have to agree – the instructions contain much room for improvement.
Also, the design is not the best and could easily be corrected if the folks at Glen Martin felt like acting on the well-deserved criticism. Simple things like bolt placement…pairs of bolts on 90-degree angled sections intefere with each other and could be offset with no compromise in mechanical strength.
Hard to explain in text – photos (and clarity?) will be posted soon. Or not – after all, it’s not my job to clarify the Hazer’s shortcomings. I already did that (chump-like) with Ameritron’s QSK mod.
Now rotate all the above 180 degrees and you have a good idea of the instructions of Force 12′s C3 Yagi.
I opened it up last night while fantasizing about how loud I would/could be in VU-land if only they had the courtesy to postpone their soiree another month or so… :-)
The manual has full color photos, all element components are bundled together, hardware is top-notch, but most importantly, each and every component of the boom and elements are labeled with “this-goes-into-that” markings. And, where applicable, how far it goes in.
It’s obvious the antenna has been assembled at the factory prior to shipping and that the markings were written or etched into it while assembled.
Putting it (back) together should be a cinch.
My self-imposed deadline for the whole tower-Yagi project is September when the Swains Island DXpedition (NH8S) takes place. Lakshadweep will have to be got with the dipole.
Stop laughing.
Some photos of the C3:
C3′s boom
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Element’s bundled together and labeled
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Force 12 C3, complete
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Themocracy
Please keep posting pics and other details about your project! I probably will never be able to put up such a fine antenna system and it is wonderful to read about it and dream!
It took me 34 years to get to this point!
Hello John, get pic’s of the antenna and for sure Force 12 is on the cutting edge. Great to see how all is labeled and to think they take the time to put the antenna together to just double make sure all is well!!! As for the concrete yes make sure all is well and dry. In the long run you will save yourself lots and lots of !@$#%% words if you wait. As Keith said do post some pics of the antenna that took 34 years……
I will post updates to the tower/antenna project overall to this page:
http://www.ae5x.com/blog/tower-installation/
Today I put the rollers on the Hazer that allow it to more smoothly be raised or lowered.
Hi John, interesting post. It would be nice if we could zoom in on te hazer to have a closer look. I’ve been thinking of the C3 or a steppIR last time I setup the mast. But then I met my wife and things changed. But anyway….I’m only 33 years involved in radio. So if I compare it to you I still have some time ;-)
In the meantime I’ll make you a little envious with this picture of a QSL card from my private collection:
http://bit.ly/P7b8lP
73, Bas
Very good Bas, & congrats on the VU7…and on Marianne Vos – she really poured on the power in the last 200 meters!
Who the heck is Marianne Vos? Her name sounds familiar and I guess she won something on a bike?
Well, I don’t follow the news at the moment. But when it comes to bikes I guess here in the Netherlands we grow up with it. 73, Bas