Beam me up Scotty!

A great weekend for erecting some aerials!

At last I managed to get all the antennas together. I now seem to have more than expected, I ordered a 4m, 2 element beam from Moonraker and got a new 4 element 2 metre antenna! Not quite what I wanted, but they said I could have it at half price if I wanted while they sorted out the correct item. That was good because it would be ideal for portable use on Winter Hill.
So...the correct item came minus some parts! A couple of days later the items missing came through the post and the problem was solved!
I assembled the array in the garden and tuned the 4m HB9CV before putting the array up.

The first part of the project was completed a couple of weeks ago, the rotator and mounting brackets ready for the array to be fitted. This weekend I put together the array and made sure everything was greased with dolops of vaseline! Great stuff Vaseline, if you ever want to take the antennas down, you will find that the bolts are rusted. Vaseline cures that problem.

Now I have been up and down the ladder like a fiddlers elbow, but carrying the completed array up the ladder and fixing it into the rotator is scary! I called on my mate Andy to carry the array up the ladders and fix them to clamps.

It is quite a neat array, considering it is for 4m, 2m, and 70cm, a 6m antenna is too large, so I may go for the halo and mount it underneath the rotator.

Tonight I tested it...wow I can hear the Wrotham Beacon in Kent for the first time in over 10 years! I can also hear the Buxton Beacon coming in at 5-9+ on 4m!

Great fun with the rotator...works perfectly...can't believe I got it on ebay for £19!

I am sooo pleased that I still know how to put up antennas after all this time, putting the array together seemed like second nature, I have done it so many times.