I strongly second Franks comment about weather proofing. Equally important on any outside electronics is to very carefully clean ALL the residual flux off the PC boards, and especially on the F-connector solder pads. ALSO, apply some acrylic conformal coating on all outdoor PCBs.
With 12v on the coax line with a bias-T setup, even small amounts of dirt stuck to old flux and then combined with moisture can cause serious noise issues with micro conduction between the centre conductor and ground pads. I have since redesigned all my rx amplifiers to use a separate 12v dedicated supply voltage to keep the DC off the coax. 73, Steve Ve6wz Sent from my iPad > On Mar 30, 2023, at 2:18 PM, Frank W3LPL <[email protected]> wrote: > > Tiler, > > Congratulations on your new five circle YCCC array! > > Be sure you very effectively waterproof all of your coaxial cable connectors > that carry DC power. Even the slightest amount of moisture in the connectors > will cause micro-arcing of the DC voltage, raising your noise floor by many > dB. > > 73 > Frank > W3LPL > > > From: "K3MM" <[email protected]> > To: "Frank W3LPL" <[email protected]>, "topband" > <[email protected]>, "PVRC" <[email protected]> > Cc: "Pete N4ZR N4ZR" <[email protected]> > Sent: Thursday, March 30, 2023 8:08:42 PM > Subject: Re: Topband: 2-element receiving arrays > > I just completed building a YCCC nine Circle array using V E6WZ PC boards > with the latest mods, including on board chokes. I actually have it deployed > currently as a five circle As I’ll be taking it down soon for mowing season, > but it works quite well. The patterns on all three bands, 160 through 40 are > as advertised. Very good patterns but not the best sensitivity . I built mine > as about 23 foot verticals. I’d say compares favorably to my 500 foot > beverage, antennna although it requires a lot of pre-amplification. Due to > the active electronics it can be overloaded by close transmit antennnas so > perhaps not as useful for a multiband operation in a small area. > I’m providing power over the coax cable and using green heron everywhere, > wireless remote control, which works quite well and is controlled by the PC > software using a mouse or hotkeys. > > It was a fun project. It turned out quite well, but not in expensive. I > scrounged about half the aluminum tubing and angle I’m using for the bases > and probably spent $1500 or so. including the remote control hardware. next > fall, I’ll deploy the full nine circle array, but the five circle is probably > almost as useful and avoids some complexity and cost. i’ll also probably > relocate it to get more separation from some of the transmit antennnas. > > Ty K3MM > > [ https://apps.apple.com/us/app/aol-news-email-weather-video/id646100661 | > Sent from the all new AOL app for iOS ] > > > > On Thursday, March 30, 2023, 1:38 PM, Frank W3LPL <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > Hi Pete, > > For a monoband receiving array, you might consider using low impedance > resonant verticals rather than high impedance verticals. > > The primary advantages of high impedance verticals are > - very short verticals (but taller verticals produce stronger signals) > - multi-band operation > - no radials > > The primary disadvantages are > - reliability issues with outdoor electronics > - lightning susceptibility of outdoor electronics > - higher cost > - much lower signal levels > - extreme care required to suppress common mode signals (buried feedlines are > highly recommended) > - negative effects of nearby trees and buildings. > > The primary advantages of low impedance verticals are > - much stronger signal levels > - much less criticality of common mode signal suppression, > - much lower cost > - much higher reliability > - immunity to lightning damage > - much less affected by nearby trees and buildings > > The primary disadvantages are > - taller verticals (typically about 24 feet) > - radials (they can be very short if many radials are used) > - mono band operation (switchable matching networks can be used for > multi-band operation). > > I highly recommend the DX Engineering Receiving Antenna Phasing System. > Its expensive but well worth the investment especially for a small array. > > [ https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/dxe-ncc-2 | > https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/dxe-ncc-2 ] > > If you have 120 feet for a three element array, the YCCC array is a great > choice > It can use high impedance or low impedance verticals > Unfortunately its no longer available from DX Engineering > The nine element YCCC array uses only three active elements at any time, > so its really a three element array switchable in many directions. > > [ > https://static.dxengineering.com/global/images/instructions/dxe-yccc-switch.pdf?_gl=1*1cv0fc9*_ga*MjEyMDA1Nzc3MS4xNjUyMzAyMjc0*_ga_NZB590FMHY*MTY4MDE5NTk1OC40My4xLjE2ODAxOTYwNTYuNTAuMC4w > | > https://static.dxengineering.com/global/images/instructions/dxe-yccc-switch.pdf?_gl=1*1cv0fc9*_ga*MjEyMDA1Nzc3MS4xNjUyMzAyMjc0*_ga_NZB590FMHY*MTY4MDE5NTk1OC40My4xLjE2ODAxOTYwNTYuNTAuMC4w > ] > > [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl-crM5Kb6A | > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl-crM5Kb6A ] > > [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVW1CmrzP7c | > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVW1CmrzP7c ] > > A two element array occupies only 60 feet or even a little less. > > 73 > Frank > W3LPL > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Pete N4ZR N4ZR" < [ mailto:[email protected] | [email protected] ] > > > To: "topband" < [ mailto:[email protected] | [email protected] ] > > Sent: Thursday, March 30, 2023 12:54:30 PM > Subject: Topband: 2-element receiving arrays > > Thinking ahead to next winter on 160, I'm interested in replacing my > K9AY Loop with a 2-vertical phased array. I'd like to homebrew the > antennas and just buy or build the remote control unit for the shack. > I'm looking for sources of components (antenna-located preamps and an > in-shack controller), and would prefer not to completely homebrew them, > but the prices at the usual suspects are awfully high. Any ideas? > > I have pretty reasonably-priced access to 25 and 31-foot fiberglass > poles (used for wind-socks by model airplane enthusiasts). I'm thinking > that one relatively low-cost approach might be to attach, say, #14 wire > to the poles, with preamps at the base, but wonder if there is a > downside to using such small-diameter antenna elements rather than 1 or > 1.5 inch tubing? Alternatively, are clones of the DX Engineering 8' > short verticals with preamps a good alternative? > > -- > 73, Pete N4ZR > _________________ > Searchable Archives: [ http://www.contesting.com/_topband | > http://www.contesting.com/_topband ] - Topband Reflector > > BQ_BEGIN > > > > BQ_END > > > _________________ > Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector _________________ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
