screwdriver for RV
 

Anyone ever setup a screwdriver on a RV and have it work very well ?

I have one installed but it preforms very poorly compared to
how well it worked on my car.

I think it is not working very well because the entire antenna is next to
the side of the motorhome.. and on my car.. only maybe the bottom 2 feet
of it were beside another surface.

I guess another question would be.. does anyone know if it would possibly
work better if it could be mounted at an angle instead of directly
vertical?


--
Registered Linux User #346565

Jeremy Salch wrote:
I guess another question would be.. does anyone know if it would possibly
work better if it could be mounted at an angle instead of directly
vertical?

It would work better on top until you hit something.
--
73, Cecil http://www.qsl.net/w5dxp



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Jeremy,
You're right, being next to the metal of the RV is the
problem. The solution is just exactly what you probably
think it is, move it away from the RV. The "how" is the
hard part, there really isn't a 'good' way of doing it
that doesn't envolve either a lot of effort, or money.
Tilting the antenna may make some very small improvement
but don't count on it. The idea is to get it away from
the RV as far as possible, or above it as Cecil said. If
you could raise it far enough to get the exposed coil and
whip above the roof line, performance would be much better.
If the whip isn't very 'whippy'/flexible, I think I'd see
if I could find one that is. It will increase the
survivability of the antenna some. By the way, you would
then have an antenna and 'BCI', "Bridge Clearance Indicator".
Good luck...
'Doc

PS - You will also need to brace/guy the antenna. Plastic
of plexiglass brace works just fine.

Jeremy, is your RV skinned with fiberflas or sheet metal? Obviously, you're
going to have more problems with sheet metal. Also, you said you had the
antenna installed. Maybe you need to go behind the installers, and beef up
the grounding system?

Screwdrivers also give you a few more options. You can take the whole
antenna and mount it inside a PVC tube on the roof of the RV, and run it
horizontally. You can also run the motorized coil inside, and use it to
feed a separately-mounted whip (only a short distance away). In either
case, you still need to beef up the ground systems.

73,
Mike KI6PR
El Rancho R.F., CA

"Jeremy Salch" wrote
Anyone ever setup a screwdriver on a RV and have it work very well ?

I have one installed but it preforms very poorly compared to
how well it worked on my car.

I think it is not working very well because the entire antenna is next to
the side of the motorhome.. and on my car.. only maybe the bottom 2 feet
of it were beside another surface.

I guess another question would be.. does anyone know if it would possibly
work better if it could be mounted at an angle instead of directly
vertical?


--
Registered Linux User #346565

"Mikey" wrote in message
...
Jeremy, is your RV skinned with fiberflas or sheet metal? Obviously,
you're
going to have more problems with sheet metal. Also, you said you had the
antenna installed. Maybe you need to go behind the installers, and beef
up
the grounding system?

Screwdrivers also give you a few more options. You can take the whole
antenna and mount it inside a PVC tube on the roof of the RV, and run it
horizontally. You can also run the motorized coil inside, and use it to
feed a separately-mounted whip (only a short distance away). In either
case, you still need to beef up the ground systems.

73,
Mike KI6PR
El Rancho R.F., CA


Yes, *IF* the body is fiberglass. If it is in close proximity to metal it
won't work well if at all! If your RF is metal, there isn't much you can do
except try to move it as far
away as possible from the body.

The other solution is to mount it on the rear ladder where it can be tilted
down for stowage while underway. It might
mean that you could only operate while parked in the RV
park. If the body is fiberglass, you could cut a block of
wood, paint it and cut a "V" in it, and tilt the antenna down to rest in
this "V". Then you could operate while
underway using one of those AMAC positioners--pricey
but would work.

Finally, I have seen screwdrivers mounted on the ladder
in the horizontal facing rearward and high enough to stay
away from other vehicles. Then it was braced with another piece of non
conductive material in that position
OR slanted up towards vertical. This, of course, kept it
out from bridges but let it operate well. Use a stiff upper
whip.

73

Jerry
K4KWH

"Jeremy Salch" wrote
Anyone ever setup a screwdriver on a RV and have it work very well ?

I have one installed but it preforms very poorly compared to
how well it worked on my car.

I think it is not working very well because the entire antenna is next
to
the side of the motorhome.. and on my car.. only maybe the bottom 2
feet
of it were beside another surface.

I guess another question would be.. does anyone know if it would
possibly
work better if it could be mounted at an angle instead of directly
vertical?


--
Registered Linux User #346565

Jerry wrote:
Finally, I have seen screwdrivers mounted on the ladder
in the horizontal facing rearward and high enough to stay
away from other vehicles. Then it was braced with another piece of non
conductive material in that position
OR slanted up towards vertical. This, of course, kept it
out from bridges but let it operate well. Use a stiff upper
whip.

Another idea is to locate the antenna on top of the vehicle and
install a very large top hat one foot above the coil. That would
limit the height of the antenna system to about four feet above
the top of the vehicle. I once tried an experiment of a 6'x14'
piece of 1/4" hardware screen mounted four feet above the cab
of my pickup used as a top hat for my High Sierra screwdriver.
It minimized the amount of coil required and put out one heck
of a signal. Field Strength measurements indicate that it would
have placed at the top in a 75m mobile shootout.

A 6'x14' top hat would actually be easier to implement on an RV
than on a pickup.
--
73, Cecil http://www.qsl.net/w5dxp



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Mikey wrote:

Jeremy, is your RV skinned with fiberflas or sheet metal? Obviously,
you're
going to have more problems with sheet metal. Also, you said you had the
antenna installed. Maybe you need to go behind the installers, and beef
up the grounding system?

Screwdrivers also give you a few more options. You can take the whole
antenna and mount it inside a PVC tube on the roof of the RV, and run it
horizontally. You can also run the motorized coil inside, and use it to
feed a separately-mounted whip (only a short distance away). In either
case, you still need to beef up the ground systems.

73,
Mike KI6PR
El Rancho R.F., CA
The RV is fiberglass with a metal frame. I hadn't thought about running it
totally horizontally on the roof inside of a piece of PVC, that could work.
But then the antenna is still right next to a fiberglass surface, just
about 10 feet higher in the air. As far as the ground goes, I did the
installing and it is grounded to the Metal frame underneath the RV, which
runs the length of the RV with big metal supports.. etc.

I'm not sure i understand how a seperately mounted whip would work, the idea
sounds interesting but I can't picture it.


--
Registered Linux User #346565

Jerry wrote:


"Mikey" wrote in message
...
Jeremy, is your RV skinned with fiberflas or sheet metal? Obviously,
you're
going to have more problems with sheet metal. Also, you said you had the
antenna installed. Maybe you need to go behind the installers, and beef
up
the grounding system?

Screwdrivers also give you a few more options. You can take the whole
antenna and mount it inside a PVC tube on the roof of the RV, and run it
horizontally. You can also run the motorized coil inside, and use it to
feed a separately-mounted whip (only a short distance away). In either
case, you still need to beef up the ground systems.

73,
Mike KI6PR
El Rancho R.F., CA


Yes, *IF* the body is fiberglass. If it is in close proximity to metal it
won't work well if at all! If your RF is metal, there isn't much you can
do except try to move it as far
away as possible from the body.

The other solution is to mount it on the rear ladder where it can be
tilted down for stowage while underway. It might
mean that you could only operate while parked in the RV
park. If the body is fiberglass, you could cut a block of
wood, paint it and cut a "V" in it, and tilt the antenna down to rest in
this "V". Then you could operate while
underway using one of those AMAC positioners--pricey
but would work.

Finally, I have seen screwdrivers mounted on the ladder
in the horizontal facing rearward and high enough to stay
away from other vehicles. Then it was braced with another piece of non
conductive material in that position
OR slanted up towards vertical. This, of course, kept it
out from bridges but let it operate well. Use a stiff upper
whip.

73

Jerry
K4KWH

That has been a thought.. fabricating some kind of mount to put on while
parked but take it down during travel. I'd like to keep it operational
during travel, but we'll see.

--
Registered Linux User #346565

Cecil Moore wrote:

Jerry wrote:
Finally, I have seen screwdrivers mounted on the ladder
in the horizontal facing rearward and high enough to stay
away from other vehicles. Then it was braced with another piece of non
conductive material in that position
OR slanted up towards vertical. This, of course, kept it
out from bridges but let it operate well. Use a stiff upper
whip.

Another idea is to locate the antenna on top of the vehicle and
install a very large top hat one foot above the coil. That would
limit the height of the antenna system to about four feet above
the top of the vehicle. I once tried an experiment of a 6'x14'
piece of 1/4" hardware screen mounted four feet above the cab
of my pickup used as a top hat for my High Sierra screwdriver.
It minimized the amount of coil required and put out one heck
of a signal. Field Strength measurements indicate that it would
have placed at the top in a 75m mobile shootout.

A 6'x14' top hat would actually be easier to implement on an RV
than on a pickup.

I'm not sure i understand what you mean by a top-hat?
Do you thing something like this could be used with the body of the
scredriver antenna mounted horizontally on top of the rv and the Top hat
mounted close but seperately, making the antenna basically flush with the
top of the rv ? If that makes any sense.

--
Registered Linux User #346565

Jeremy Salch wrote:
I'm not sure i understand how a seperately mounted whip would work, the idea
sounds interesting but I can't picture it.

Try this idea. Run the base of the antenna vertically up about three feet.
From that point, run the screwdriver coil horizontally. Then from the
other end of the screwdriver, run a non-destructable whip as high as
possible. It would look something like this:

|
|
| whip
|
+---screwdriver coil---+
| X
3' | Base non-conductive support
_________|______________________X_____
Top of RV

--
73, Cecil http://www.qsl.net/w5dxp



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