‰ NOW 40 WPM ‰ TEXT IS FROM OCTOBER 2012 QST PAGE 46‰ LENGTH. IN FIGURE 15 THE FRONT TO BACK AND FRONT TO SIDE RATIOS ARE EACH PLOTTED OVER THE FREQUENCY RANGE. THE DATA USED HERE HAS BEEN GLEANED FROM OVER THE AIR TESTING OF THE ARRAY AND AN ICOM IC R71A RECEIVER USING MANUAL PEAK OBSERVATION READINGS FROM THE S METER ASSUMING 6 DB PER S UNIT. THE DATA CONFORMS APPROXIMATELY TO THE CHART GENERATED BY THE 4NEC2 MODEL SHOWN IN FIGURE 3 AND CONFIRMS THE WIDEBAND PERFORMANCE OF THE ARRAY. OTHER POSSIBILITIES A VARIATION COMBINES TWO O EACH ANCHOR AT A QUADRANT AND AT A DISTANCE 11 FEET FROM THE MAST LOCATION. NEXT, SECURE THE GUY ROPES AND ADJUST THE MAST USING A LEVEL SO THAT IT MAINTAINS A VERTICAL STANCE. NOW, ROUTE THE FIRST LOOP WIRE THROUGH ONE OF THE COUPLING LINKS SO THAT THE PHASING DOT IS ORIENTED TO THE ANCHOR SIDE OF THE LOOP. NEXT, SPLICE THE TWO ENDS OF THE LOOP WIRE TO FORM AN ENDLESS LOOP AS SHOWN IN FIGURE 9. THEN, TAKE A SHORT SECTION OF GUY ROPE AND PREPARE A LOOP TETHER AND SECURE THE TETHER TO ONE OF THE ANCHORS. REPEAT THESE STEPS TO PREPARE THE SECOND LOOP AND POSITION IT SO THAT IT IS IN THE SAME PLANE AS THE FIRST LOOP. ADJUST THE LOOP TETHERS TO ENSURE THE MAST CONTINUES TO MAINTAIN ITS VERTICAL STANCE. NOW LOCATE A PAIR OF COUPLER STAKES THAT WILL SUPPORT THE LOOP FEED AND COUPLING LINKS. POSITION EACH OF THESE AT A LINK DISTANCE OF 60 INCHES FROM THE MAST. SECURE THE LOOP FEED FOR EACH LOOP TO THE COUPLER STAKE AS SHOWN IN FIGURE 10. YOU MAY USE ANY SUITABLE LENGTH OF COAX CABLE, ALTHOUGH IT IS IMPORTANT THAT BOTH LOOP FEEDS BE IDENTICAL. IN THIS ARRAY, I USED AN 8 FOOT RG 6 CABLE 75 WITH F TYPE CONNECTORS FOR EACH OF THE LOOP FEEDS. CONNECT A REFERENCE LINE, IN PERFORM THIS OPERATION ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE PIPE SO THERE ARE A TOTAL OF EIGHT HOLES DRILLED IN THE PIPE. AT THIS POINT, IF YOU DESIRE TO MAKE THE ANTENNA PORTABLE, YOU MAY CUT THE LENGTH IN HALF AND USE A PIPE COUPLER TO REASSEMBLE THE PIPE SO THAT IT CAN BE DISASSEMBLED AND EASILY TRANSPORTED IN A CAR. NOW, PREPARE THE LOOP WIRES FOR LOOP 1 AND LOOP 2. IT IS IMPORTANT THAT EACH LOOP BE CONSTRUCTED SO THAT EACH HAS AN IDENTICAL LENGTH AND SHAPE. TO ACCOMPLISH THIS, FIRST PRE CUT TWO LENGTHS OF 18 AWG WIRE TO A LENGTH OF 32 FEET 5 INCHES. THEN, TAKE ONE OF THE WIRES AND ROUTE IT THROUGH THE GUIDE HOLES FORMED IN THE MAST SO THAT THE LOOP WIRE EXITS AS SHOWN IN FIGURE 7. TAKE THE SAME LOOP WIRE AND ROUTE IT THROUGH THE PAIR OF VERTICALLY ALIGNED GUIDE HOLES NEAR THE BOTTOM OF THE MAST SO THAT THE LOOP WIRE EXITS FROM THE MAST FROM THE BOTTOMMOST HOLE. REPEAT THESE STEPS FOR THE SECOND LOOP WIRE. NEXT, SELECT A LOCATION FOR YOUR ANTENNA. IDEALLY THE GROUND SHOULD BE REASONABLY FLAT AND AS FAR AWAY AS FEASIBLE FROM BUILDINGS AND OTHER STRUCTURES. THIS IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT FOR OPERATION BELOW 2 MHZ, WHERE A DISTANCE OF AT LEAST 20 FEET IS RECOMMENDED. OBTAIN FOUR STAKES TO ACT AS ANCHORS FOR THE GUY ROPES FOR THE LOOP AS SHOWN IN FIGURE 8, AND SECURE THE GUY ROPES AT MID LEVEL TO THE MAST. SELECT A MAST LOCATION AND AN ORIENTATION FOR THE LOOP. POSITION ‰ END OF 40 WPM TEXT ‰ QST DE W1AW ƒ