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Old September 19th 05, 05:33 PM
Tom Coates
 
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My Lowe's store sells two kinds of copper pipe. The less costly one is
harder, lighter and thinner. I began my antenna experients with the huskier
stuff and after it bent, replaced it with the thin material, which is
holding up OK so far.

The thinner material seems to have about the same weight per foot as
aluminum. I'm using copper instead of aluminum because it is easier to make
good electrical connections between the pieces.

Tom

"John N9JG" wrote in message
...
Thanks, Ed, for your comments. Yes, If I have a supporting pole in the

lawn,
there is no reason why I couldn't also have a support directly below the
loop. The loop would be in the shape of an octagon, it would be fed

through
either a 1/5 size coupling loop or a gamma match at the center of the

bottom
side, and the series resonating tuning capacitor would be inserted at the
center of the top side.

The 3/4 inch copper pipe would be the same type that is used inside houses
and is quite rigid. I can not seem to find, by Goggling, the weight of
copper pipe. By going to the local Lowe's store and hefting a 10 feet

length
of pipe, I estimate the weight of 10 feet of pipe as being somewhere in

the
range of 1-3 lb.

"Edward A. Feustel" wrote in message
...

"John N9JG" wrote in message
...
A wooden utility pole with a length of 40 feet above ground would do the
job for me. It's just that I am not sure how the neighbors would react.

A
search of the web did show that there are fiber glass flag poles

available
that have sufficient height, but I don't know if they can support the
weight of 100 feet of 3/4 in copper pipe and a 10-15 lb remotely tuned
capacitor inside a weather-proof box.

John,
Would you be able to provide additional support from the bottom of the
loop to ground?
That might relieve the situation. Could you have the feed at the bottom
rather than at the top and
could the box be supported?

If you could support from the bottom and use a heavy walled copper pipe
which would provide
substantial rigidity, the fiberglass might work.

I suspect that the neighbors are not going to be enthusiastic about the
loop.
Regards,
Ed, N5EI