I worked for a large company, that the most severe accidents were people that wore gloves around drill machines and other spindles, the rule became no gloves on the job.
a sad day when you have to explain yourself to the back seat ham. I would venture to say that hams with towers is very few Callum. everytime you put out a video like this, it gives us Hams good ideas for our QTH keep them coming Callum de W9US
@@DXCommanderHQ Brilliant Callum . To all the armchair hams and their negativity , i say 'save the post mortems for the coroner' 😁 I did use the other stuff you mentioned before , "Mastrant" 10mm on my pulleys. But hey, whatever works as this guy gear is bloody expensive. Disregard all these folk putting in their two pennies and talk a good install but dont know what its like to feel the weight of cold galvanised steel at the fingertips on a cold morning.
@@n5yiz my towers are alive still and grow 5-7’ a year ❤️my silver 🍁 maples plus I get about a gallon of sweet delicious syrup a year from them too 90’ tall 36-44” trunk at the base and my support ropes are 80-85’ up in them
Youve done a excellent job building that mast\tower , most of us watching knew that it wasnt a finished concept ! Keep doing what you do , love your channel . I think this is why some youtubers turn comments off Callum :) 😂
I did something a little similar, to gain height from my 3 sections of tower , I made a 25' mast that I can crank up via a ratcheting boat style cable , came up with the idea after watching you build this mast/tower
Hello Lord Callum: Thank you sir for your antenna / tower update video. IMHO your antenna plan & implementation has worked out quite well to say the least. God Speed old chap, + my best to Wendy and the dogs. TMP, Unit 22 from N.J.
Appreciate all the information on this! I've got a beam sitting around the house here and don't have a tower to put it on. I had purchased it for a contest I was operating years ago back when I had a big 35 foot man lift to put it on. It's harder to get the man lift now days and I'd like to operate more contests but at the same time, I don't know if I want to live here forever so putting a tower up is not an ideal solution. This seems like a fairly legitimate way of putting it up and I've seen it done with other beams like this on DX stations overseas. Just need to understand all the little details, so thank you for the detailed explanations you've gone through on this and all the other topics you cover on your channel!
Fantastic Callum We have really enjoyed all of your instalments and updates of your Yagi journey. Don't listen to the negative comments just carry on it's great entertainment. It's a great version 1 and we look forward to the final version. Keep doing what your doing bravo....
For the slot in your mast- take some fuel line and cut a slit long ways, then you can line the slot with that to protect your coax. We do that when feeding wires through metal plates all the time.
People don't understand a "proof of concept" Engineering design. You get an idea, build with what you have that is safe, see if it works. Then after sucess you review what you have and see what may need changed or upgraded so you can go in production or use long term. Being able to have a concept and then design and making it work is a skillset that not many have! Cheers!
Been wanting to do one of these for a few years. Thanks for the detailed video. I want to put a hex beam up about 35'. If it falls, it's in a pasture instead of on my house. Thanks!
Honestly, watching those videos you made on this thing, just inspired me to actually have a go at making my own and very little else. I have been the victim of an industrial accident, and whist there were a few moments of suspense, they were mostly from hopes that the whole thing went well. Here's to more radio nerd content mate.
Keep up the great work, wish I had the space to do something similar. And again the hobby is about learning and prototyping something like this is part of what the hobbies about.
You said this was an experiment from the start. You've worked through all the parts successfully so far and I've enjoyed watching. I was one of the advocates for a 2nd person but I agree they would only be there to call someone in an emergency. As far as the gloves, I have to work without gloves because I have lost most of the tactile feeling in my fingertips. For me gloves are only to protect my hands when needed. So far you have worked out solutions for each new problem that arose from the original design. I tend to trust your judgement. Looking forward to following this and other projects. It's inspiration for me.
❤the Experiment you are doing Cal 😊 keep up the hard-work ☺️thank you for SHARING Congratulations 🍾🎉 Don’t read comments it’s just wasting time 😊even if it’s constructive criticism 😊
The power over ethernet comment was very useful to me. I plan on doing a complete home network overhaul using professional wireless access points, and the ones I've chosen are PoE, no seperate power cable. I was concerned about noise, but no longer! Thanks.
Only two cases I can think of where gloves are absolutely mandatory. Working in truly arctic conditions (don't want to get contact frozen to something) and in the military deploying concertina (razor) wire.
As for towers and masts. I build most of mine the “Telescoping”method. 10 ft. of 3 in. At the base followed by 10 ft. of 2 1/2 in. then 2 in. 1 1/2, 1 1/4, gives be about 50 ft. Overall height… Basically the same as your DX Commander masts. Pre drill the holes at the bottom of each section, mark the sections so as to know where the holes should line up, place a home brew metal GUY plate every 10 ft. Attach my guys, and raise section by section pinning each section at the bottom with bolts… The smaller tower I raise by hand. The larger heavier ones I use a Come along… Once up, the Guy wires are doing most of the work to hold the tower in place…
Hi Cal, If you can get an accurate measure of the diameter of the mast, you might be able to get split shaft collars to mount just below the thrust bearings as another measure of security to prevent them from slipping down due to the guy tensioning. Stay safe. 73 WJ3U
I've been looking at using 21 feet chainlink top rail. I like the idea of using ropes and rigging. No towers to climb and cheaper to use ropes and cords to do the work of lifting and rigging.
Very good Cal, been watching from the beginning. Knew from your previous vids its all a work in progress. Good things take time, I got the green light to put up a hexbeam in 2025, excited to see how that goes! Cant wait to go from simple wire antennas to a beam.
This hobby is about experimenting that’s the fun part 👍you will always have those people that know better mate don’t worry about it you and the team did a great job 👌cheers from vk3 pmw
It's interesting that you were able to take the comments of the sidewalk commandos and use it to create some good content. The world is full of "you should have", and if everyone took those comments to heart, nothing would ever get accomplished. As for gloves? There are gloves for most every task, and I personally am a proponent of hand protection because I need them as much as I need my eyes.
another thing nobody spotted: coolest ham radio project of the month. Aaaand: if it's raining buckets, black buckets keep things from kicking the bucket. BTW: the aircraft is the white one again! Black buckets, white aircrafts! bemi, leaky bucket builder and crash aircraft engineer
Love it. I like how your able to give a reason to why your doing it your way. It’s your setup and site and you know what works. Some very valid points made. Curious with the cutout on the mast for the cables. I know your going line the cut to protect but what about a sleeve over it to help with any ingress. Maybe a bit of PVC you can either side up and down or drill and tap then bolt it on and off.
Had a thought about the fiberglass you have on the tower. To help reduce the fail rate you could look at replacing it with a rod instead of pole. Then it would be solid. Just a thought. Wish I had the space for something like that. Love the work it looks amazing .
What you need to help push you completely over the top is additional expert advice from the Labour Party 😵💫. Seriously though Callum that was a good proof of principle assembly that most sensible people would recognise as such. Good job mate👍.
It’s all about experimentation! Anyone with a big enough wallet can buy the equipment, have it professionally installed and be a big gun DX’er! But one doesn’t learn very much about the hobby that way…. If it falls apart! Pick up the pieces and try again… I’ve built dozens of antennas, masts and towers. Some work right from the drawing board. Others have to be rethought, rebuilt, and tried again. But one constant with anything ham radio, is I’m always trying to improve.
I used 3-knots - and they are very reliable knots too. I am going to try to learn splicing a 12-strand rope with thimbles. Looks easy. Did a test and it seemed to work..
Wow Callum - Tough crowd out there. - I fully got that it was a prototype project, and "anything goes". I think it worked out rather well so far. - Cheers! VE3GHP
Excellent project! I'm finding it very interesting and informative. It will contribute greatly to the 10 m Yagi project that I mentioned previously. On that note, do you think the 10 m mast would be sufficient for the 10 meter antenna? Thanks so much! I'm looking very forward to your next
Sorry for jumping in late - have you considered once the mast is vertical, to lift the antennas and lower guy rings via pulleys in a top cap along the mast in the way a highway light pole works when they need to change the bulbs?
These were great explanations of how things are working and why you did these things ... can i just ask where you got the hinge bracket from ? Maybe a link or something ? Cheers Calum 73s
Callum could you not put a rotator of some description at the top of the pole to turn the yagi vertical to horizontal and visa versa to give you a bit more scope ? Just wondering if it would work at all or would it be a waste of time ?
Wonder if you have thought about adding one director element Callum. Maybe increase gain by 2 or 3 db's? And I can't help but wonder whether additional resonant elements would work to make say a tribander? Elements spaced in similar way to the DXC vertical aerials. Just a thought. 73 Martin, GW3XJQ
We will try 3-elements, yes. I do like the wide forward gain on 2-elements and the ffairly low /b is quite handy for chatting to EU on the back when facing USA. For a contest, 3-elements would be better, agreed.
Why the rotator was not installed closer to the top? Maybe it was explained in one of the earlier videos. I didn't watch them all. I've seen similar installations where the rotator is in a mast too, but much closer to the top. 73
I just wanted to keep the weight down up high. I've done both in the past. I was motivated by some inner power to do it this way because it just came to me once!
In the original video of the yagi being assembled, you used RG-58 coax for the ugly balun (if I remember correctly). Don't you need something more heavy duty to run QRO? 🤔
I thought of a question earlier today (not necessarily specific to this particular project)... What is the size of the conduit pipe between your shack and the antenna field? And is it just a single pipe, or more than one?
Everyone say fence top rail is to frail for 3 or 4 long but I made it work by lifting from the top end using a tree as a crane 🏗️😉it was a tad bit precarious lifting it over the rebar stake at the bottom 😮and it stayed up until the neighbors landscaping mower grabbed the guy wire and bent it over TWICE 😡🤬😡so I move on to use the tree to support my feedpoint and it quieter noise wise not having a pole close to the feedpoint & home made ToadHarbor Feedline 😊 win win
When Joe was in Birmingham couple years ago, we tried to reach him and get him on the channel for a couple mins.. But even with various tweets and emails, it didn't work out :(
COST.. Also a 12m SCAM mast is 150kg+ and I would have to move it around. Also, you need to keep positive air pressure (ideally) [yes, you can lock it off]). SCAM masts are better suited in my opinion to smaller / temporary roles. I want to load this thing up. Wait to see what's going on next!
@ I paid £400 for a new (old stock) 13M pump up mast - the bare mast is around 85 kilos - certainly hefty but not unmanageable, 150 kilos is all the legs etc. Seems less sketchy and easier to try things on quickly .
Great Project Callum , I wanted to know where I could get some of those 10 Bolt Clamps for connecting the Masts together with , Im Putting up a 45 ft Bracketed Mast myself and could use some great advice on Parts to use and such , Like Rotor and Thrust Bearings , and Clamps also weather I have to Guy Wire it too above the One eve clamp im using , All the Best , Love your Vids 73's KC1USS Salem Mass USA Tech at the Moment 10 meters✌💚🙏👁🍀
On another vid You mentioned that when using a winch you cant feel the way the pull is going …. Instead of a winch …. Use a tugger . With a foot switch The drum spins but only pulls when you put a tension on the rope . It even works on the down loads Just tossing idea out there
Hmmmm, I'd ask a real structural engineer to tackle the slot issue. I am not one and only had some classwork in the topic as an undergraduate. The issue would not be a problem when standing erect, rather its when lowering and raising it where it starts to act like a beam having bending stresses, compression & tension along its lenght which I assume is max at the point midway between its point of rotation and point of lift with the load coming from the weight per foot of the roughly two inch pipe. You also have shearing stresses which are max nearly where you made the slot. If me, to be safe, I'd weld a 4 inch wide by 18 inch long by 1/4 inch thick plate on both sides of the slot and would never worry about the issue from then on.
The "slot" doesn't know if it's vertical or not. It still only has downward force on it plus only the weight of the lower 70% of the first tube when it's half-way up.
@DXCommanderHQ Ok, But the stresses go from pure axial compression across the cross section of the circular pipe to taking on being bending stresses, tension & longitudinal compression, with longitudinal compression being along the top side length of the pipe and longitudinal tension being along the bottom side length of the pipe once you start to lower it. The change becomes greater as the pipe approaches horizontal where axial compression across the circle of the pipe has gone to zero. When heading towards horizontal the max bending stresses, longitudinal tension and longitudinal compression, not axial compression, head towards being greatest at the midpoint between supports. This becomes more so as it takes on having less & less tilt. Additionally. you have what is called a shearing stress which is max at both supports once the mast is lowered where this stress that wants to shear like shearing the head off a bolt with hammer and chisel is not present when the mast is vertical. If I had a friend that was a structural engineer I'd ask him what he thought because you really have to know the weight per foot, type of metal etc and plug them into fitting formulas. If I had no such friend & I did not want a seed of doubt I'd weld on the gusset plates I had indicated. They only need to be spot or stitch welded but by doing so you placed every thing plus more back into the structural ability of the pipe that acts as a pipe column when erected and a beam on its way up & down. Conversely, it's only what I would do, not necessarily what you see or assume is fitting and it may need nothing added, but I am aware of enough that's not common knowledge to make I would want to error on side of caution.
@DXCommanderHQ I am glad you had it looked at by an engineer because your putting too much work & effort into the project, especially when the future antenna is installed, to chance it fails. We had a general named Patton in WW2 that strongly saw as true that the Sherman tank was all that was needed & that the better Pershing tank was not required. A lot of lives would have been saved if his assumption had been verified. I like to remember this on the really important stuff.
This is an amazing project that you are explaining / building and I think you’re the Antenna Alchemist ⚗️ ✨ inspiring others to do more… I’ve seen some of the comments on the previous episodes and got the feeling that …some… just wanted to score a virtual signalling point.🤔 If you get injured it’s your own fault… BUT, I trust that you’ve thought things through and decided on an action rather than ‘what if’ abandoning an idea that could / would work, out of fear…things may materialise in the build to be addressed then. 🧐 As with everything amateur radio operators do, things can go well, need adjustments, or completely go tits up… I don’t think this will happen with you Callum, the majority of us have faith in your OCD / your projects… and wish you every success .73. 💙 ( note to self… FLAK,,, incoming )
I worked for a large company, that the most severe accidents were people that wore gloves around drill machines and other spindles, the rule became no gloves on the job.
You said it for me! Thank you :)
Or wear the proper size gloves so they aren't loose.
You don't have to explain yourself Callum. You're the guy out there actually doing something rather than talking about doing something.
well said
Correct. Too many HamTubers waffle about all the gear AND NEVER USE IT
a sad day when you have to explain yourself to the back seat ham. I would venture to say that hams with towers is very few Callum. everytime you put out a video like this, it gives us Hams good ideas for our QTH keep them coming Callum de W9US
@@DXCommanderHQ
Brilliant Callum . To all the armchair hams and their negativity , i say 'save the post mortems for the coroner' 😁
I did use the other stuff you mentioned before , "Mastrant" 10mm on my pulleys. But hey, whatever works as this guy gear is bloody expensive.
Disregard all these folk putting in their two pennies and talk a good install but dont know what its like to feel the weight of cold galvanised steel at the fingertips on a cold morning.
@@n5yiz my towers are alive still and grow 5-7’ a year ❤️my silver 🍁 maples plus I get about a gallon of sweet delicious syrup a year from them too 90’ tall 36-44” trunk at the base and my support ropes are 80-85’ up in them
I wish I had some land or a bigger garden. Anyway Cal, thanks for going through peoples comments and explaining stuff.
Don't worry about it. Most of the people that tell you everything you did wrong have never built anything in their lives. I think you did a great job.
You are probably right! LOL
Excellent information Callum. Well thought out project and lots of very good points covered. Its been a very informative video series. Very well done.
Thank you so much!
Well done
Always innovating, always transparent, always informative, no one like Cal, cheers mate 73
Thanks 👍
Youve done a excellent job building that mast\tower , most of us watching knew that it wasnt a finished concept ! Keep doing what you do , love your channel . I think this is why some youtubers turn comments off Callum :) 😂
I did something a little similar, to gain height from my 3 sections of tower , I made a 25' mast that I can crank up via a ratcheting boat style cable , came up with the idea after watching you build this mast/tower
Ah cool!
Hello Lord Callum: Thank you sir for your antenna / tower update video. IMHO your antenna plan & implementation has worked out quite well to say the least. God Speed old chap, + my best to Wendy and the dogs. TMP, Unit 22 from N.J.
Great information ! M & P makes great coax. Glad to see the support on this project ! Cheers from NY !
Yeah thanks Robert!
Great work Cal
Excellent Cal, even more props for spending the time to explain ,as you say to some VERY PEDANTIC questions...Blooming keyboard warriors. 73
Appreciate all the information on this! I've got a beam sitting around the house here and don't have a tower to put it on. I had purchased it for a contest I was operating years ago back when I had a big 35 foot man lift to put it on. It's harder to get the man lift now days and I'd like to operate more contests but at the same time, I don't know if I want to live here forever so putting a tower up is not an ideal solution. This seems like a fairly legitimate way of putting it up and I've seen it done with other beams like this on DX stations overseas. Just need to understand all the little details, so thank you for the detailed explanations you've gone through on this and all the other topics you cover on your channel!
I was thinking about making a "calculator" to show all the caculations on line lengths.. I would actually use it myself!
Fantastic Callum
We have really enjoyed all of your instalments and updates of your Yagi journey.
Don't listen to the negative comments just carry on it's great entertainment.
It's a great version 1 and we look forward to the final version.
Keep doing what your doing bravo....
Yes OK!
Great project Callum, well presented. Keep up the great work encouraging us to get out and play radio and build stuff :)
Thanks, will do!
For the slot in your mast- take some fuel line and cut a slit long ways, then you can line the slot with that to protect your coax. We do that when feeding wires through metal plates all the time.
People don't understand a "proof of concept" Engineering design. You get an idea, build with what you have that is safe, see if it works. Then after sucess you review what you have and see what may need changed or upgraded so you can go in production or use long term.
Being able to have a concept and then design and making it work is a skillset that not many have! Cheers!
Ah! Nicely put!
Very fine hack job indeed. You've got this all figured better than some think. Great job.
Thanks 👍
Been wanting to do one of these for a few years. Thanks for the detailed video.
I want to put a hex beam up about 35'. If it falls, it's in a pasture instead of on my house.
Thanks!
You can do it..
Honestly, watching those videos you made on this thing, just inspired me to actually have a go at making my own and very little else. I have been the victim of an industrial accident, and whist there were a few moments of suspense, they were mostly from hopes that the whole thing went well. Here's to more radio nerd content mate.
Sorry about your accident. Hope all is well these days.
@DXCommanderHQ it was back in 96 chief. All groovy now... :)
Truly enjoying watching the whole process.
Tnx!
Callum, screw the naysayers. You do you. Full Stop. Cheers. N7OMI
Brilliant Callum. Awesome achievement 73
Thanks Callum for sharing the fun in DIY antennas!
Keep up the great work, wish I had the space to do something similar.
And again the hobby is about learning and prototyping something like this is part of what the hobbies about.
Indeed. Well spotted.
Remember opinions are like arseholes, everyone's got one😋. I love your enthusiasm and pragmatic approach Great Job again Callum
You said this was an experiment from the start. You've worked through all the parts successfully so far and I've enjoyed watching. I was one of the advocates for a 2nd person but I agree they would only be there to call someone in an emergency. As far as the gloves, I have to work without gloves because I have lost most of the tactile feeling in my fingertips. For me gloves are only to protect my hands when needed. So far you have worked out solutions for each new problem that arose from the original design. I tend to trust your judgement. Looking forward to following this and other projects. It's inspiration for me.
Lovely comment Jack.. Thanks for your encouragement.
great project, risk assessment, put the minimum of persons in danger, weaknesses, i ain't bosted !!
❤the Experiment you are doing Cal 😊 keep up the hard-work ☺️thank you for SHARING Congratulations 🍾🎉 Don’t read comments it’s just wasting time 😊even if it’s constructive criticism 😊
I do read them and respond. It's important and part of the creative "thing" :)
The power over ethernet comment was very useful to me. I plan on doing a complete home network overhaul using professional wireless access points, and the ones I've chosen are PoE, no seperate power cable. I was concerned about noise, but no longer! Thanks.
Great to hear!
Sweet project, Lord Callum!
Good Job Cal !!!
Well done Cal. Happy to hear about plans for a winch. 73's
Wearing gloves can be very dangerous. This mast looks great, I'm sure it will get tweaked and refined as you go along.
Only two cases I can think of where gloves are absolutely mandatory. Working in truly arctic conditions (don't want to get contact frozen to something) and in the military deploying concertina (razor) wire.
Nice one Mike.
I also find gloves being useful for only two things: Pissing your pants, and falling off the hay wagon.
As for towers and masts. I build most of mine the “Telescoping”method. 10 ft. of 3 in. At the base followed by 10 ft. of 2 1/2 in. then 2 in. 1 1/2, 1 1/4, gives be about 50 ft. Overall height… Basically the same as your DX Commander masts. Pre drill the holes at the bottom of each section, mark the sections so as to know where the holes should line up, place a home brew metal GUY plate every 10 ft. Attach my guys, and raise section by section pinning each section at the bottom with bolts… The smaller tower I raise by hand. The larger heavier ones I use a Come along… Once up, the Guy wires are doing most of the work to hold the tower in place…
Hi Cal,
If you can get an accurate measure of the diameter of the mast, you might be able to get split shaft collars to mount just below the thrust bearings as another measure of security to prevent them from slipping down due to the guy tensioning. Stay safe. 73 WJ3U
Yes, I was talking to Jonathan about that.. They are EXTREMELY tight right now!
love this set-up. amazing build!
Haha John! You're next :)
I like your experiments Cal!
I've been looking at using 21 feet chainlink top rail. I like the idea of using ropes and rigging. No towers to climb and cheaper to use ropes and cords to do the work of lifting and rigging.
Go for it!
Love watching your videos Cal, keep up the fab content! By the way, the aircraft was an Emirates A380, I was on one last week.
Nice one!
Very good Cal, been watching from the beginning. Knew from your previous vids its all a work in progress. Good things take time, I got the green light to put up a hexbeam in 2025, excited to see how that goes! Cant wait to go from simple wire antennas to a beam.
Oh wow.. OK Good luck!
This hobby is about experimenting that’s the fun part 👍you will always have those people that know better mate don’t worry about it you and the team did a great job 👌cheers from vk3 pmw
Thanks!
Love it! I think you're being very calm Callum, the "Got to do it right way police" are out and about!!...Don't you love em? 🚔
Just clarifies a few things..
It's interesting that you were able to take the comments of the sidewalk commandos and use it to create some good content. The world is full of "you should have", and if everyone took those comments to heart, nothing would ever get accomplished. As for gloves? There are gloves for most every task, and I personally am a proponent of hand protection because I need them as much as I need my eyes.
another thing nobody spotted: coolest ham radio project of the month. Aaaand: if it's raining buckets, black buckets keep things from kicking the bucket. BTW: the aircraft is the white one again! Black buckets, white aircrafts! bemi, leaky bucket builder and crash aircraft engineer
Bemi! I love you LOL!! HAHAHA
No need for explanations Callum. Its "Your Toy" and its "Your Playpen". Play as long and Hard as You want too. We enjoy it all 🙂
Thanks 😊 Cal
Welcome 😊
Spot-on video! Cheers!
Many thanks!
Love it. I like how your able to give a reason to why your doing it your way. It’s your setup and site and you know what works. Some very valid points made.
Curious with the cutout on the mast for the cables. I know your going line the cut to protect but what about a sleeve over it to help with any ingress. Maybe a bit of PVC you can either side up and down or drill and tap then bolt it on and off.
Thing is, the top of the mast isn't closed and no doubt every year I'll take it all apart (I can't stop tinkering!)
@ ah fair enough and yep we all do that.
Had a thought about the fiberglass you have on the tower. To help reduce the fail rate you could look at replacing it with a rod instead of pole. Then it would be solid. Just a thought. Wish I had the space for something like that. Love the work it looks amazing .
Actually, since there should not be ANY bending movement at that point, I'm not concerned but I hear you!
@DXCommanderHQ After reading your comment this morning I thought about it and you couldn't use a rod cause the cables run inside the pipe...lol
Oh yes! LOL
I think you did a Great Job and I'm jealous I couldn't do it myself !!!!
You can :)
What you need to help push you completely over the top is additional expert advice from the Labour Party 😵💫. Seriously though Callum that was a good proof of principle assembly that most sensible people would recognise as such. Good job mate👍.
Yes. working well. I made a small mistake yesterday but have now elmininated it.
Inspiring.
Cal, yes the typical A380 from Dubai.
Cheers
Marc
So equal derrick and mast height and 45 deg on the tallest guy to make it easy to transfer the guys between the post and Derrick. Nice!
Something like that yes!
It’s all about experimentation!
Anyone with a big enough wallet can buy the equipment, have it professionally installed and be a big gun DX’er! But one doesn’t learn very much about the hobby that way…. If it falls apart! Pick up the pieces and try again…
I’ve built dozens of antennas, masts and towers. Some work right from the drawing board. Others have to be rethought, rebuilt, and tried again. But one constant with anything ham radio, is I’m always trying to improve.
Perfect comment.
I think you could be making beams now. I have really enjoyed the videos on the mast 😊
Glad you like them!
Good build! You got it done with what you had, looks real nice imo, you got gain on 20 now. What's not to like?
Thanks 👍
Kudos 🎉
Fantastic project! You used many specialist knots. Do you know if these are essential, or will you design these out?
I used 3-knots - and they are very reliable knots too. I am going to try to learn splicing a 12-strand rope with thimbles. Looks easy. Did a test and it seemed to work..
Wow Callum - Tough crowd out there. - I fully got that it was a prototype project, and "anything goes". I think it worked out rather well so far. - Cheers! VE3GHP
Yeah.. It wasn't so much of a rant (I didn't mean it to be like that) but more of an explainer.
Respect to you, talk is worthless but you're hard work is pretty bl__dy amazing 👏
Good comment. There's a lots of ham radio "talk" out there!
Excellent project! I'm finding it very interesting and informative. It will contribute greatly to the 10 m Yagi project that I mentioned previously. On that note, do you think the 10 m mast would be sufficient for the 10 meter antenna? Thanks so much! I'm looking very forward to your next
10m on 10m is one wavelength - so perfect. In effect, you are 30-40% taller than I am!
Sorry for jumping in late - have you considered once the mast is vertical, to lift the antennas and lower guy rings via pulleys in a top cap along the mast in the way a highway light pole works when they need to change the bulbs?
No I haven't considered that.
These were great explanations of how things are working and why you did these things ... can i just ask where you got the hinge bracket from ? Maybe a link or something ? Cheers Calum 73s
Bracket from Barenco. But plenty of scaffolding connector type things do the same.
Ok .great Calum. Thanks
I think the main problem will be the torque turning force through the rotator, not the weight. But just see how it goes, it's all fun.
To be honest, I was surprised it just turns!
Callum could you not put a rotator of some description at the top of the pole to turn the yagi vertical to horizontal and visa versa to give you a bit more scope ? Just wondering if it would work at all or would it be a waste of time ?
The short answer is a waste of time.. Good question though.
@@DXCommanderHQ No harm in asking
POE cable is differential (twisted tightly in pairs). I don't think they will carry a signal.
Wonder if you have thought about adding one director element Callum.
Maybe increase gain by 2 or 3 db's?
And I can't help but wonder whether additional resonant elements would work to make say a tribander? Elements spaced in similar way to the DXC vertical aerials.
Just a thought.
73 Martin, GW3XJQ
We will try 3-elements, yes. I do like the wide forward gain on 2-elements and the ffairly low /b is quite handy for chatting to EU on the back when facing USA. For a contest, 3-elements would be better, agreed.
"chill out about it" 😃
Haha yeah!
Why the rotator was not installed closer to the top? Maybe it was explained in one of the earlier videos. I didn't watch them all. I've seen similar installations where the rotator is in a mast too, but much closer to the top. 73
I just wanted to keep the weight down up high. I've done both in the past. I was motivated by some inner power to do it this way because it just came to me once!
@@DXCommanderHQ I did the same in my tower. I've installed the rotator at the base with a mast extension suspended with 3 thrust bearings. 73
In the original video of the yagi being assembled, you used RG-58 coax for the ugly balun (if I remember correctly). Don't you need something more heavy duty to run QRO? 🤔
Don't seem to.
I thought of a question earlier today (not necessarily specific to this particular project)... What is the size of the conduit pipe between your shack and the antenna field? And is it just a single pipe, or more than one?
Landlord gave me a single pipe. 4-inches / 100mm.
Everyone say fence top rail is to frail for 3 or 4 long but I made it work by lifting from the top end using a tree as a crane 🏗️😉it was a tad bit precarious lifting it over the rebar stake at the bottom 😮and it stayed up until the neighbors landscaping mower grabbed the guy wire and bent it over TWICE 😡🤬😡so I move on to use the tree to support my feedpoint and it quieter noise wise not having a pole close to the feedpoint & home made ToadHarbor Feedline 😊 win win
Tower is awesome. Bite my butt to all the Monday morning quarterbacks.
Greetings from Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, de ZF1PB
I want to be the pedant. That’s not a tower, that’s an orange lollipop!
Nice!!
Great video, as always. I can't miss your guitars and drum kit. How about doing a video with Joe Walsh, a fabulous guitarist and fellow HAM?
When Joe was in Birmingham couple years ago, we tried to reach him and get him on the channel for a couple mins.. But even with various tweets and emails, it didn't work out :(
@DXCommanderHQ Your efforts are appreciated. It would have been great fun.
Ok, didn’t ask up till now in case it was covered- why not a Clark type pump up mast?
COST.. Also a 12m SCAM mast is 150kg+ and I would have to move it around. Also, you need to keep positive air pressure (ideally) [yes, you can lock it off]). SCAM masts are better suited in my opinion to smaller / temporary roles. I want to load this thing up. Wait to see what's going on next!
@ I paid £400 for a new (old stock) 13M pump up mast - the bare mast is around 85 kilos - certainly hefty but not unmanageable, 150 kilos is all the legs etc. Seems less sketchy and easier to try things on quickly .
Great Project Callum , I wanted to know where I could get some of those 10 Bolt Clamps for connecting the Masts together with , Im Putting up a 45 ft Bracketed Mast myself and could use some great advice on Parts to use and such , Like Rotor and Thrust Bearings , and Clamps also weather I have to Guy Wire it too above the One eve clamp im using , All the Best , Love your Vids 73's KC1USS Salem Mass USA Tech at the Moment 10 meters✌💚🙏👁🍀
OK the Yaesu clamps are called Yaesu Thrust Bearings. Most ham radio outlets sell them online.
@DXCommanderHQ Thanks Callum , 73 I'll check when I go up next time 🦅🇺🇸✌️🍀🤗🙏 will let you know how it comes out putting up my mast ?
@@eagledare2008 Sure, do it. Send pics! LOL
HA! You could probably scare up some gold-plated pulleys as well.
On another vid
You mentioned that when using a winch you cant feel the way the pull is going ….
Instead of a winch …. Use a tugger .
With a foot switch
The drum spins but only pulls when you put a tension on the rope .
It even works on the down loads
Just tossing idea out there
Once I fully understand the kit, I won't need feedback, I'll just watch :)
People ask why you didn't have help because they worry about you... 👍🏻
But they're not thinking.. Help couldn't salvage anything.. But yeah OK, I hear you.
Critics will be critics no matter what.
It's just important to clarify for those who are genuinely interested.
How much is 20 lbs
20kg is 44 pounds. I used Google to help me work that out..
I wish I had the budget the commentators think you have!
Hmmmm, I'd ask a real structural engineer to tackle the slot issue. I am not one and only had some classwork in the topic as an undergraduate.
The issue would not be a problem when standing erect, rather its when lowering and raising it where it starts to act like a beam having bending stresses, compression & tension along its lenght which I assume is max at the point midway between its point of rotation and point of lift with the load coming from the weight per foot of the roughly two inch pipe. You also have shearing stresses which are max nearly where you made the slot.
If me, to be safe, I'd weld a 4 inch wide by 18 inch long by 1/4 inch thick plate on both sides of the slot and would never worry about the issue from then on.
The "slot" doesn't know if it's vertical or not. It still only has downward force on it plus only the weight of the lower 70% of the first tube when it's half-way up.
@DXCommanderHQ Ok,
But the stresses go from pure axial compression across the cross section of the circular pipe to taking on being bending stresses, tension & longitudinal compression, with longitudinal compression being along the top side length of the pipe and longitudinal tension being along the bottom side length of the pipe once you start to lower it.
The change becomes greater as the pipe approaches horizontal where axial compression across the circle of the pipe has gone to zero.
When heading towards horizontal the max bending stresses, longitudinal tension and longitudinal compression, not axial compression, head towards being greatest at the midpoint between supports. This becomes more so as it takes on having less & less tilt.
Additionally. you have what is called a shearing stress which is max at both supports once the mast is lowered where this stress that wants to shear like shearing the head off a bolt with hammer and chisel is not present when the mast is vertical.
If I had a friend that was a structural engineer I'd ask him what he thought because you really have to know the weight per foot, type of metal etc and plug them into fitting formulas. If I had no such friend & I did not want a seed of doubt I'd weld on the gusset plates I had indicated. They only need to be spot or stitch welded but by doing so you placed every thing plus more back into the structural ability of the pipe that acts as a pipe column when erected and a beam on its way up & down.
Conversely, it's only what I would do, not necessarily what you see or assume is fitting and it may need nothing added, but I am aware of enough that's not common knowledge to make I would want to error on side of caution.
I have an engineer who looked at it and said I should be fine.. UNLESS there's a hurricane but then everything breaks.
@DXCommanderHQ I am glad you had it looked at by an engineer because your putting too much work & effort into the project, especially when the future antenna is installed, to chance it fails.
We had a general named Patton in WW2 that strongly saw as true that the Sherman tank was all that was needed & that the better Pershing tank was not required. A lot of lives would have been saved if his assumption had been verified. I like to remember this on the really important stuff.
Apart from your General, if it comes down then the hard-work has already been done: The guy foundations. I can live with it all breaking someday.
Wear gloves for handling steel cables, bare hands when handling rope.
Good tip!
Another my antenna is bigger than your antenna video.
Clue is in the title, cock.
Now come on you can’t be both either a musician or a drummer lol
Drummer jokes.. Great fun. I said to my Mum, "When I grow up, I want to be a drummer" and she said "Don't be daft, you can't be both".
@@DXCommanderHQ love it. Or what do you call somebody who hangs around musicians???
And that one..
Great project. Best of luck with it. KB3NG
Thanks!
Another great video and yes, it was an Airbus A380 from Dubai!
ME7HYD.
Ah!
This is an amazing project that you are explaining / building and I think you’re the Antenna Alchemist ⚗️ ✨ inspiring others to do more…
I’ve seen some of the comments on the previous episodes and got the feeling that …some… just wanted to score a virtual signalling point.🤔
If you get injured it’s your own fault… BUT, I trust that you’ve thought things through and decided on an action rather than ‘what if’ abandoning an idea that could / would work, out of fear…things may materialise in the build to be addressed then. 🧐 As with everything amateur radio operators do, things can go well, need adjustments, or completely go tits up… I don’t think this will happen with you Callum, the majority of us have faith in your OCD / your projects… and wish you every success .73. 💙
( note to self… FLAK,,, incoming )
Perfect comment - and it's folks like YOU that I make these videos for :)