Re: [amsat-bb] Tripod for Arrow
There have already been a lot of good comments on the list on why handheld antennas work a lot better if you can manage it, and I'm definitely in that camp. My experience with my home station (an Elk on a tripod in the attic with an azimuth-only TV rotator and a fixed elevation of about 18 degrees) also corroborates this, as I find that mismatched elevation makes very little difference, but mismatched polarization makes a huge difference.
When I was confined to a fixed location, one trick that I've found helped is to suspend the tip of the antenna to bear part of its weight. In my back yard, I have strung up some horizontal (non-conductive) lines that are at about the right height for me to hold the Arrow horizontal with my arm extended and the tip of the antenna resting on the line, with line "hooked" on the forward-most element. This saves a lot of fatigue on those long portions of the pass when the elevation angle is low, provides added height to reduce the workable elevation angle, and enables almost complete freedom of rotation for polarization. I've used this approach with both the Elk and the Arrow to good effect. It does require a little more practice and attention with the Arrow due to the crossed geometry, but it was certainly very workable. I have the lines strung out in three directions optimized for different pass geometries, which was more useful for the Arrow than the Elk. I don't use them much any more since I got over my fear of being "outed" and started operating in full view of the public.
Operating completely pedestrian-portable is also very handy if you have to move during the pass to clear obstructions or distance yourself from (audio) noise sources. Operating writing-hand-free can be very doable, even without VOX. I hold the antenna with one hand, and leave the other hand free for tuning, logging in real time, pressing the earpiece PTT switch, and occasionally holding an umbrella.
73, Ryan AI6DO
Here is a link to a photo of the Arrow on the Amazon tripod:
https://twitter.com/MachaleRobert/status/1121138773394255872
On Wed, Apr 24, 2019 at 12:30 PM Ryan Noguchi via AMSAT-BB < [email protected]> wrote:
There have already been a lot of good comments on the list on why handheld antennas work a lot better if you can manage it, and I'm definitely in that camp. My experience with my home station (an Elk on a tripod in the attic with an azimuth-only TV rotator and a fixed elevation of about 18 degrees) also corroborates this, as I find that mismatched elevation makes very little difference, but mismatched polarization makes a huge difference.
When I was confined to a fixed location, one trick that I've found helped is to suspend the tip of the antenna to bear part of its weight. In my back yard, I have strung up some horizontal (non-conductive) lines that are at about the right height for me to hold the Arrow horizontal with my arm extended and the tip of the antenna resting on the line, with line "hooked" on the forward-most element. This saves a lot of fatigue on those long portions of the pass when the elevation angle is low, provides added height to reduce the workable elevation angle, and enables almost complete freedom of rotation for polarization. I've used this approach with both the Elk and the Arrow to good effect. It does require a little more practice and attention with the Arrow due to the crossed geometry, but it was certainly very workable. I have the lines strung out in three directions optimized for different pass geometries, which was more useful for the Arrow than the Elk. I don't use them much any more since I got over my fear of being "outed" and started operating in full view of the public.
Operating completely pedestrian-portable is also very handy if you have to move during the pass to clear obstructions or distance yourself from (audio) noise sources. Operating writing-hand-free can be very doable, even without VOX. I hold the antenna with one hand, and leave the other hand free for tuning, logging in real time, pressing the earpiece PTT switch, and occasionally holding an umbrella.
73, Ryan AI6DO _______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected]. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
participants (2)
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KE6BLR Robert -
Ryan Noguchi