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Radio => Antennas => Topic started by: dangerdan on December 08, 2015, 08:50:33 AM

Title: HEX Beam goes deaf
Post by: dangerdan on December 08, 2015, 08:50:33 AM
In July of this year ,I put up my homebrew 6 band hex beam .
I used a 16 foot 6 by 6 to support my tilt over light weight 20 foot tower .
 
 In November , we had 60mph winds that racked the antenna around quite a bit .
 When I powered up for a net that I participate in , I noticed no signal on the hex beam .
 Switching to my fan Dipole antenna ,big signal and feelings of Doom .

In the process of trouble shooting , I found that the coax got pinched between the tower and the support post .
It turns out that flattening like a pancake coax changes everything .

I replaced the section of coax and have a working antenna again .

Lesson learned ..Be careful where you put your wire .


73
DD
Title: Re: HEX Beam goes deaf
Post by: AD on December 08, 2015, 09:07:28 AM
Dan

Do you have some photos of the Hex along with some design specs?
Title: Re: HEX Beam goes deaf
Post by: dangerdan on December 08, 2015, 05:59:12 PM
AD :
 Most of my pictures were lost with my old phone .
I have a link for K4KIO ,he gives a good description .
http://www.hex-beam.com

once at the site Go build your own hex .
Most of the information will give you a place to start .

I bought the hub for the hex beam from   http://www.dxengineering.com
they have parts for the hex beam if you want .
I bought the hub to save time on the build ( I was in a hurry )

I found other ways for some of the hardware , these parts can vary depending on resources available .

I will try to find more of my research to update you .

I wish that I had the hex-beam during the ARRL Centennial .


DD
Title: Re: HEX Beam goes deaf
Post by: BTPost on December 10, 2015, 02:36:07 PM
Ever put a 1000# Weight on a Water Hose???  That is the same thing as trying to push RF thru a FLAT, or Pinched Piece of Coax...... Just how much water do you expect to get out the Far end....   I like visual Examples, when educating folks....