digitalanalog
Active Member
Home Brew Milair, Off Center Fed Dipole (chunky but not fat)
Not sure if this will work for it's intended purpose but having nothing to loose it was worth a shot.
I could not find any on-line info for any OCFD construction using anything other then normal coax and
a few using 3/8" copper or aluminum tubing. I am aware of using 2" aluminum or copper for a Fat OCFD as per discussion in several threads mentioned by PRCGUY, and I plan on trying that very soon.
So this is constructed of stuff I had laying around in the garge from other antenna builds through
the years.
Material:
1" x 1" x 1/8" wall aluminum square tubing
1" x 1" solid plastic bar stock (non-conductive)
So I used two pieces of the tubing, the top section is 32 1/2" long, the bottom section is 30 1/2" long
with a combined overall length of 63 1/2", these were not cut to length, it's just how long they were
when I pulled them out from under the work bench, If I need to trim them I can. The gap between
them is 1/2"
I used the 1" x 1" solid plastic bar to hold the two pieces of tubing in-line with each other and to keep the 1/2" spacing, I counter sunk the screw heads into the plastic just to keep them out of the way. I also drilled and counter sunk two more holes into the plastic to attach the mast mounting bracket.
Nothing in the way of mounting is coming in contact with the dipole tubes.
I used a piece of 18awg commscope coax I had laying around, looks to be about 50' long, I attached the center conductor to the top section and the shield (braid) to the lower section using ring terminals and self taping stainless screws, The tape job is not very pretty and I plan on redoing it if this antenna performs as a good milair antenna, Also I did not have a balun on hand so I will add that if needed, again if this antenna works there will be some changes, But i wanted to see if it is going to work for milair, I don't need it for anything else I have all the other bands I monitor covered with the other antennas I have up.
The black electric tape holding the coax to the lower tubing will come off when I put this up in the air,
It was just used to keep the coax clear from drilling and getting everything together.
Plan on mounting tomorrow on a Plastic mast, so as to keep the aluminum clear from any interferance
of a steel mast.
Would love to hear comments or concerns you all may have, I am in a bad section because I am rural and
I am down in a valley, I need a Good milair antenna to help pull in the week signals and hopefully more
traffic in general.
I will be hooking this up to my GRE superamp to get the added increase in receive that I so desperatly need.
Will let you all know how it works out.
Your comments/concerns are appreciated.
Not sure if this will work for it's intended purpose but having nothing to loose it was worth a shot.
I could not find any on-line info for any OCFD construction using anything other then normal coax and
a few using 3/8" copper or aluminum tubing. I am aware of using 2" aluminum or copper for a Fat OCFD as per discussion in several threads mentioned by PRCGUY, and I plan on trying that very soon.
So this is constructed of stuff I had laying around in the garge from other antenna builds through
the years.
Material:
1" x 1" x 1/8" wall aluminum square tubing
1" x 1" solid plastic bar stock (non-conductive)
So I used two pieces of the tubing, the top section is 32 1/2" long, the bottom section is 30 1/2" long
with a combined overall length of 63 1/2", these were not cut to length, it's just how long they were
when I pulled them out from under the work bench, If I need to trim them I can. The gap between
them is 1/2"
I used the 1" x 1" solid plastic bar to hold the two pieces of tubing in-line with each other and to keep the 1/2" spacing, I counter sunk the screw heads into the plastic just to keep them out of the way. I also drilled and counter sunk two more holes into the plastic to attach the mast mounting bracket.
Nothing in the way of mounting is coming in contact with the dipole tubes.
I used a piece of 18awg commscope coax I had laying around, looks to be about 50' long, I attached the center conductor to the top section and the shield (braid) to the lower section using ring terminals and self taping stainless screws, The tape job is not very pretty and I plan on redoing it if this antenna performs as a good milair antenna, Also I did not have a balun on hand so I will add that if needed, again if this antenna works there will be some changes, But i wanted to see if it is going to work for milair, I don't need it for anything else I have all the other bands I monitor covered with the other antennas I have up.
The black electric tape holding the coax to the lower tubing will come off when I put this up in the air,
It was just used to keep the coax clear from drilling and getting everything together.
Plan on mounting tomorrow on a Plastic mast, so as to keep the aluminum clear from any interferance
of a steel mast.
Would love to hear comments or concerns you all may have, I am in a bad section because I am rural and
I am down in a valley, I need a Good milair antenna to help pull in the week signals and hopefully more
traffic in general.
I will be hooking this up to my GRE superamp to get the added increase in receive that I so desperatly need.
Will let you all know how it works out.
Your comments/concerns are appreciated.
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