RadioBanter - View Single Post - SUPER J-POLE BEATS YAGI BY 1 dB

February 9th 05, 03:05 AM

wrote:

2 bays is big and heavy enough! 4 would be
a bit overkill in this situation.

Not likely.

Definitely! You try putting up a VHF
Super J-pole yourself! You are probably
more used to UHF, so 4 bays doesn't scare
you, but at the broadcast band, you will need
some serious help.

I would love to see what a 4 bay
would do though, but you need serious
bucks to do that, plus alot of manual
labor...

I've tried using an SO-239 attached to the
antenna itself (as they have done here), and it's
a bad idea...pot metal is very weak.

It's a good idea, use a good connector, most of the quality ones are
nickel or siver plated brass. The ratchack ones are garbage. I
prefer Type N connectors as they are easier to waterproof and good
ones are quite solid.

He doesn't explicitely say brass in
his website, and looking at the picture, it
looks like a cheapie SO-239 made of pot metal.

It's a bad idea overall. I would
mount it with 4-40 nuts and bolts on
an aluminum plate, and then attach
that to the antenna.

I've had to take an antenna
down before, just to replace the
broken SO-239 that i used in this
way. Bad idea. You have to make
your antenna very physically strong,
unless you like to spend a lot of time
on your rooftop.

yeah, but UHF versus VHF is gonna be a huge
difference weight and size wise!

Yep, 3:1. Use light metal. Though using 1/2 inch copper is not as
heavy as it may seem as it's also structural. I have built them for
VHF too.

1/2" copper gets heavy with 2 bays, trust me.

Especially for something like the Super J.

The rules are simple. Want more signal, put up more metal.

Or want more ERP, or a lower angle
of radiation, put up more metal.

I would agree.

Slick