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| Welcome to the official Charlie Tango DX Group CB And Amateur Radio Forum. We hope you enjoy your visit. Charlie Tango DX is a group dedicated to Hobby Radio Users in all forms, whether CB, Amateur, PMR446, Scanning and Short Wave Listening. We are a very active and friendly group that welcomes anyone from anywhere in the world who has an interest in Radio, regardless of their level of experience, their equipment, their location, or their radio preference. We have members varying from fully qualified operators on the Amateur Bands, to newcomers who have just bought a PMR446 set, and many CBers both old and new. All are equal on the Site. The CT Site contains many reviews, tips and modifications within the forums, and we take pride that no sensible question is ever left unanswered, and nobody is ever belittled or mocked for asking an honest question, no matter how simple it may seem. We were all new to the hobby once. You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join Charlie Tango you'll be able to access member-only ections, and use member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, voting in polls, viewing modifications and more. If you are not yet a member: Registration is simple, fast, and completely free. Simply CLICK HERE to start the Registration process. Your application will need to include your personal name and approximate location, it will require you to confirm your email, and then be signed-off by one of our Admin Staff, but this is usually completed within 24 hours (48 max) |
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| 'Pikey' style Skypper project | |
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| Topic Started: 26 Jun 2012 - 19:35 (930 Views) | |
| Nik Gnashers | 26 Jun 2012 - 19:35 Post #1 |
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Day one of the Pikey Skypper Project, I thought I would doccument the build as a thread. Managed to source a couple of 12 foot sea fishing rods, I will need another two or something similair for the main 'cross' which holds the wires for the antenna. Found a small tupperware container, and used the so239 from my pikey inverted V, and built the feedline junction box. Thanks to a good friend, we stripped some old coax, and have used the interleaved braid (stretched) and have enough for all three wire sections of the skypper. Cost so far = £0    
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| Cozzmik | 26 Jun 2012 - 20:54 Post #2 |
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Good start already Nik  Looking forward to the next installment 
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| Kaosss | 26 Jun 2012 - 21:17 Post #3 |
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Like seeing what others are up to, nice one Nik, look forward to seeing it finished and the results. Al |
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| Mark DX | 27 Jun 2012 - 00:28 Post #4 |
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Should be hearing you booming in Nik on the flatside soon mate .Just wonded those rods are not carbon composite at all as may worth checking as carbon may not be very helpfull in a antenna build . 73s Mark 554 |
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| Mark in Essex | 27 Jun 2012 - 06:37 Post #5 |
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Hurry up and get on with it Nik I'm so impatient when it comes to something that looks really good and is unfinished....lol Liking it lots Nik, and excellent to see you still on air and trying new things, just because the neighbours want to spoil your hobby....keep it up mate 
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| Nik Gnashers | 27 Jun 2012 - 16:56 Post #6 |
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Mark - not sure what they are made out of mate, not got a lot of choice really lol, fingers crossed they will be ok. Thanks for the encouragement from everyone else too !!! Got another couple of fishing rods today (had to buy them though grrr) but least I am on the way now, total cost so far £15 
Edited by Nik Gnashers, 27 Jun 2012 - 16:58.
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| Deleted User | 27 Jun 2012 - 18:45 Post #7 |
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plus carbon fiber and will draw the lightning and will pick all electricity in the air and it could build up and get a big discharge in the set and goodbye set on some sets they can not take the build up of static cobra 200 pres Johnson ect and if its a big build up goodbye the man on the end of the mic be careful 
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| Nik Gnashers | 27 Jun 2012 - 19:33 Post #8 |
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Thanks for the advice chaps, I have spent an hour online trying to find out what my rods are made from, with no success. I hav'nt really got any other options at the moment, unless I spend some money on some glass-fibre poles, which I will try not to do as 1) I am skint, and 2) I want to build this on a shoestring from salvaged parts if I can. I guess I will just have to make sure the antenna wires are well insulated from the rods just in case, so thanks for the heads up. I know I need a mast from somewhere, and a couple of two-way clamps, but I am hoping thats all I need to buy, and everything else I can salvage. |
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| Nik Gnashers | 28 Jun 2012 - 20:49 Post #9 |
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Tonight, I sliced off the foam 'handle' on the thinnest of the sea rods, and luckily it slots inside the end of the slightly thicker one, so thats two of the rods that will slot together nicely and fit into a two-way clamp onto the mast. The other two rods are the same size, so I am thinking of a piece of dowling wood, shaved down so it fits exactly into the ends of each rod so they slot together nicely too. Just having some difficulties in finding out the exact length of the element / reflector / director wires. I have used a few different antenna calculation sites and got different results ? Also, the calculation sites are all for 3 element yagi beams, I cannot find a specific one for skyppers / spider beams. Does anyone know if the lengths will be any different from a 3 ele yagi ?? Going to use strimmer plastic wire for the insulator guys for the wires. I think I might have the whole thing ready for swr-ing by sunday if I can get the mast and clamps
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| Kaos | 28 Jun 2012 - 20:57 Post #10 |
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Try THIS site for measurements. They served me well on my skypper project. |
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| Nik Gnashers | 29 Jun 2012 - 18:07 Post #11 |
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Thanks Tim, That was one of the sites I had already studied, and the measurements on there seem a bit shorter than any other sites, although they are all for yagi beams. Could you confirm that you built a skypper using those measurements, and the swr was lowest on 27.555 please ? Many thanks, Nik |
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| Kaos | 29 Jun 2012 - 19:11 Post #12 |
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Yes that was the site I used for measurements and Standing Wave Ratio on 27.555 was next to nothing. I cant remember the bandwidth it had but I did have successful QSO's to UK on 20w from a Lincoln. I binned it as it was to big and cumbersome with the materials I used, but it did work for a few weeks until my next project came along. Cut a bit longer and trim to desired effect. |
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| Nik Gnashers | 1 Jul 2012 - 15:25 Post #13 |
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Yesterday, I had a go at building the skypper. 1st attempt was photographed, and shown below, although I have changed it a lot since the photo's, and it is much better. I have some more adjustments to make yet, and will post a final picture when it stops bloody raining and I get chance to actually get outside without getting soaked ... The SWR on 1st attempt was about 2.3 to 3.1 across the bands, but the wires were flopping down a bit, not in line, and I suspect a bit too long. Original measurements were : Reflector - 5.542 m Element - 5.232 m director - 4.922 m I then readjusted the wires and rods, it was much less floppy than shown in the pics below, and more aligned. I trimmed the wires to the following lengths : Reflector - 5.25m Element - 5.04m Director - 4.84m The swr was checked again, and on UKFM ch20, it was 1:1.7 on 27.555 it was 1:1.5, on 26.900 it was 1:1.3, on 26.400 it was 1:1.1, on 26.000 it was 1:1.2. Next adjustement will be to adjust the wires as follows : Relfector - 5.25, Element - 5.00, Director - 4.75 and hopefully I can get the 1:1.1 area around the T5. I have also got some plastic hooks to attatch to the ends of the rods, and somehow make a loop on the end of each insulator wire so I can hook them on quickly (they were tied on in the pics just temporary). Pics below, but it does look a LOT less floppy, and a lot more lined up now than in the pics. It does give a rough idea how I have used the pole-to-pole clamps on the mast. Final adjustements and tests next weekend, total cost so far £26 not including the mast (that was £36.95).   
Edited by Nik Gnashers, 1 Jul 2012 - 15:29.
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| Cozzmik | 1 Jul 2012 - 16:15 Post #14 |
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Thats a bit of a beast Nik,well done on the build Glad i stuck with the moxon,that looks a little bit adventurous for me
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| Nik Gnashers | 1 Jul 2012 - 17:56 Post #15 |
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Agreed Mick !! Its been a bit fiddly to say the least. Just been out for an hour or so again, trimmed the lengths down to : Director - 4.75m Element - 5.00m Reflector - 5.25m SWR is : 26.600 - 1:5 26.900 - 1.2 27.200 - 1.1 27.500 - 1.5 27.600 - 1.6 Not bad, certainly higher than Id like but still, ok I guess. Had it as pictured below and worked lands end on some short skip, and poland. Swapped over to the sirio mobile a few times, and the skypper is a LOT less noisey, and on receive is about 4 to 5 S points stronger. Still need to work out a better way to attatch the insulator wires tot he rods, at the moment I am tying them each time, but I need a quicker and more reliable way.  
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| Nik Gnashers | 1 Jul 2012 - 18:44 Post #16 |
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Just a small update, for the ppl asking how I connected the rods together. The two thick sea fishing rods, were almost the same size, but one was slightly bigger diameter than the other, so I shaved off the foam handle ion the thinnest one, and it slid inside the other thicker rod. The other two rods were the same size. I used a piece of wood dowling (long thin round piece of wood), and planed it down so it just fitted inside the two rod ends. This was not quite sufficient to hold them parallel, so I also used a small section of metal tube which fitted over both the ends of the rods, and the combination of both these things holds the rods very securely, but I can still twist them apart for dissasambling. |
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| 13CT025 | 1 Jul 2012 - 19:06 Post #17 |
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Hello Nik, here I can see a large, black plastic screw which seemingly can be screwed onto the black tube (one at the place where the rear window meets the auto body; You have two of these in the picture, one in the director-reflector tubes, one in the left-right): To what does that screw belong to? Is it part of one of the fishing poles? And, what does it fix, when tightened? Could you maybe please make some pics of everything on the ground, completely disassembled? Thanks George |
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| Nik Gnashers | 1 Jul 2012 - 19:21 Post #18 |
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Hi George, The black plastic threads on the rods, are where the reels fit. There is a metal ring each end of the threads, and the reel attatches inside those, and then you screw the washer to tighten up so the reel is tight on the rod. The threads came in handy, because they allowed the thicker rod to screw onto the threads when the thinner rod was pushed inside it.   EDIT : Just found some plastic hooks, originally designed for keys to be hung inside cupboard doors or something. I have stuck these to the ends of the rods, and added electrical tape round a few times to make them secure. I then got some metal rings/loops from some key rings that were being thrown away atw ork, and I plan to tie the strimmer cord onto the loops, so I can quickly hang them on the hooks when putting the skypper together at static dx sites. Will post pics of my next mods when I can get chance
Edited by Nik Gnashers, 3 Jul 2012 - 21:57.
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| Nik Gnashers | 8 Jul 2012 - 16:42 Post #19 |
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Actually got a couple of hours dry weather today, so I put the finishing touches to the antenna. I used key-ring metal loops, and tied the strimmer wire - insulator guys - onto the loops. They then hooked onto the plastic hooks I have attatched to the ends of the rods. My good friend has made me a drive on mast, which needs a little mod to tilt the bottom yet, but its a beautiful little thing, so many thanks to him. I got myself a diawa 2-way antenna switch, and am now good to go static mobile. The swr was checked across the bands, its pretty good, pic shows 27.565 reflected swr (fm) on the skypper.    
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| Cozzmik | 8 Jul 2012 - 17:55 Post #20 |
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Well done Nik,enjoyed your skypper project and hope you have some great contacts on it. Cant beat the enjoyment of knowing you have made your own antenna at a fraction of the cost of a production one. Thanks for sharing
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