Part2: The most time consuming part is painting the fiberglass poles as you paint 5 sets, let it dry. Attach the hose clamps and clips to the painted poles using the one unpainted set of poles that already has the clips attached as a guide. You then disassemble the last set and paint them.
Use gloves to handle the poles a there are fiberglass fibers that will stick into your skin.
Attach the clips to the poles with the clamps using the first set of poles as a guide. The first clamp is to stop the smaller pole inside the next larger pole at an overlap of 4″. I bent the clips to conform to the shape of the pole so that the clamp did not need to be opened very much in order to attach the clip to the pole. I also suggest that the opening of the clip is not flattened as this will hold the antenna wires. Each antenna wire is really two wires that are separated by a short section of rope. The rope has heat shrink tubing on it that is fatter than the wire and needs to go through the clips. There is a diagram in the manual indicating the distances to the clips, they are measuring to the narrow end of the clips, not the edge of the clamp. The only exception is the first clamp that limits the overlap of the poles (set at 4″ from the end of the pole to the bottom of the first clamp.)
Slide the center post into the plate and use the hardware to firmly attach then together. You now can start attaching the 6 largest diameter poles to the plate. Note: do not crush or flatten the fiberglass poles with the clamps.
Attach the support ropes at the end of the poles and attach a clamp to hold them. You can then stand in the middle and pull the opposite rope end together until they are hooked on the eyelet at the top of the center post. This will bow the opposite arms upward easily into the propper upside down umbrella shape.
There are 5 bands and 5 wires that need to be threaded through the clips and then attached to the center post. I attached one end to the post and then ran the wire all the way around the antenna. Start at the highest frequency (6M) as it is closest to the center. You then can work outwards from there. I started by attaching one of the eyes of the antenna wire to the ground and then running the wire through the clips. I then attached the other end at the center pole. Be careful to use needle nose pliers to hold the nut on the metal central pole while you tighten the top nut holding the end of the wire. Do not let it turn as it may disconnect the internal connection to the center conductor. The two arms that are on either side of the forward facing beam (number 1 & 6 on their diagram) can have the clips loosen to be able to slide the clips inward (loosen the wire) or outwards (to tighten the antenna wire). You also want to sight down the support rope at the top, seeing which arms are being pulled off center. Work any slack or too tight wire sections in a way to get the arms in alignment with their opposite arms.
Here are the SWR readings sitting on saw horses 3 feet off of the ground, not at 35′ like it should be. The scope was set for the full width of each of the 20, 17, 15, 12, 10, 6 meter bands. The center frequency was set to the middle of the band. There are 5 ferrite beads on the feed line where it connects to the antenna.
Listening to the bands there is a >3 dB decrease in the noise level and about a 1-3 dB gain in signal strength. It is much easier to hear marginal stations as the noise floor is lower as compared to a Hustler 5BTV vertical. I made several european contacts on 20 at night with the antenna sitting on the saw horses. I cannot wait to figure out how to mount the antenna up at 30′. (Part 3).
More to come, 73 N4PVH.
Brightleaf Amateur Radio Club 