In June 2021, Aldi put a 6-piece flagpole from Gardenline on the shelf. The aluminum elements, which can be plugged together, have a diameter of 51 mm, the wall thickness is 1 mm. One element has a length of 980 mm. At the end of the flagpole is a large plastic head with grommet for a rope. Two of these poles put together gives a length of 11.76 m with 11 elements. One of the terminating elements can no longer be used in relation to this length.

At first glance, the poles are suitable for the construction of an antenna. The material is sufficiently strong enough. In order to reach a length of almost 12 m and also to erect it, 2 suitable guy sleeves should be used. Erecting the mast in its entire length will probably not work. There is a risk of breakage. Therefore, the elements should be inserted individually from the bottom to the top. During erection, the guy lines must be gradually lashed tight. So you need a few helpers for this.

At the plastic head should already be a long line to pull through so that you can later pull te antenna wire through. The mast comes with a construction manual for a concrete foundation.

The following building instructions use recycled material where available.

Assembly instructions

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• Guy ring: how a lid became a ring.

The screw cap lid of a pesto jar is the appropriate size. A 50mm hole is drilled into the lid with a hole saw. Then the thread of the lid is slightly lifted so that it can be slid over the pole. The resulting metal ring is attached to the mast with 3 small screws. To do this, first drill holes in the ring on the mast until the holes are also visible on the mast. Then continue drilling the drilled holes on the mast. The screws are fixed with superglue. The bracket for the guy ring is now complete.

Cut a 50mm hole out of the lid of an espresso coffee can (86mm). A 50mm hole is also cut out of the lid of a standard twist-off glass (85mm). The lids are placed flat together. This gives more stability. In the protruding part of the lids 3 to 4 holes are drilled, which are to take the fastenings for the guy ropes. A correspondingly long piece is then cut from a bicycle shift cable, fed through the holes and screwed on at the end with a duplex clamp. The remaining end of the clamp is also provided with a shift cable. Here comes the carabiner as a terminating element to it, which takes the guy lines. The covers are pulled over the tapered end of a mast tube. Finished is the guy line.

• Assembling and erecting the mast

5-legged bases of discarded office chairs have proven to be quite adequate for many of my mast designs. The tube of the chair should be slightly wider than the base of the mast. Two guy wires at 5 and 10 meters provide the stability needed by a mast of this height.

The mast segments are placed next to each other and the brackets for the guy lines are slipped over them.

Start with the top segment and the mast head. Here it is a good idea to either pull a rope through, which will later fetch the wire, or to pull the wire through already. I suggest the last, less experimental, variant.

The prerequisite is that the attachment points of the guy lines on the ground are already fixed. This determines the length of the lines. If the antenna wire is already pulled through, the ends should be long enough to reach them after erecting the mast! After the first or second element has been inserted, the mast must be set plumb with a spirit level. Even a few degrees of deviation are enough to make the mast stand crooked!

After 6m the mast reaches a height where it starts to sway. This is where the first guy point should be set. When inserting the remaining segments, the lines of this guy point should gradually be lashed tight. The lines of the 2nd guy point should already be loosely tensioned before the last segments are inserted. Then the guy lines are lashed and fixed so tightly that nothing can wobble.

This completes the construction of a 12 m high antenna tip. The construction of a loop antenna can begin.
 

***Thanks to Wolfgang Büschel from Germany for the Aldi-Tip in a-dx@groups.io***

 

 

This section displays the status of my logged USA & Canada states. It will be updated.



List of abbreviations for states

Pin board at Google Maps

Status 27 October 2020

Heard states/green (USA): 27
Confirmed states/red: 5
Latest heard or confirmed:

Heard states/green (Canada): 6
Confirmed states/red: 2
Latest heard or confirmed:

1140 CHRB High River (AB)


840 CFCW Camrose (AB)


1060 CKMX Calgary (AB)


960 CFAC Calgary (AB)


Map source: Free Software Foundation. The source has been changed.

Guyana is a small country on the northern flank of South America, on the Atlantic Ocean. The studios are located near the city of Georgetown, in Vreed en Hoop, at the mouth of the Demerara River. NCN runs three government controlled radio services: Fresh 100.1 FM, Voice of Guyana 560 AM and an 102.1 FM, and Hot FM, 98.1 FM.

On September 26, 2020, the BBC Worldservice was broadcast between 0500z and 0530z via VoG. IDs were heard at the beginning and end of the period.



A Screenshot from SDR Console V.3.0.23. To the left on 558 kHz is RNE from Spain which dominantes the frequency, and most of the time the area around. So, Guyana was a good catch on this September morning. The station was audible up from 0400z first under heavy QRM from Spain .

Antenna was the 78 m Double Delta Loop pointing 325°. Receiver ELAD FDM-S2. And booster RPA-2 from DX-Engineering.

It takes some getting used to, my new DDA with a total length of 78 m. However, in a positive sense, because you first have to get used to the high SNR. It is simply unbelievable what this antenna brings compared to a 50 m wire. Therefore, it can happen that the supposedly good conditions are actually bad as long as you still have the signals of the 50 m wire in your ear. The DDA does not take up more space than the wire mentioned, its structure only goes up. The signal strengths should be comparable to that of a beverage over 100 m long. So it was the best idea ever to pull up this more complex antenna shape in the garden. It now replaces two 50 m wires in the direction of 325 ° and 350 °.

On 16 Feb 2020 I was able to follow reasonably good conditions across the Atlantic for the first time. On this day, some stations never heard before with unusual signal strengths came in. Unusual means signals with over 40 dB SNR. At the same time, the usual channels from the east coast were mostly weaker. An outlier was KLEB, Golden Meadow (LA) 1600 with 250 watts and an SNR over 50 dB.

All logs from that day [Entries in bold: the only log in the MW list | Entries in red: a first reception]:

All my Logs: https://www.mwlist.org/mw_logmap.php?sort=qrg&datum=2020-02-16&hours=0&omid=281&band=MW

590 0452 CAN VOCM, Saint John's (NL) 4360 km
670 0615 CUB Radio Rebelde, Santa Clara/CTOM4 (vc) //1620 8005 km
680 0426 CLM HJZO Radio Nacional de Colombia, Sabanagrande (Barranquilla) (atl) 8620 km
710 0400 USA WOR, New York/Lyndhurst [NJ] (NY) 6179 km
730 0700 CAN CKAC, Montréal/Pointe-Calumet (QC) 5843 km
750 0359 CAN CBGY, Bonavista Bay (NL) ID This is CBC Radio 1 4367 km
760 0400 USA WJR, Detroit (MI) 6648 km
770 0620 B ZYL209 Rádio Cultura AM, Lavras (MG) ID Radio Cultura 9559 km
860 0413 CAN CJBC, Toronto/Meadowvale (ON) 6338 km
920 0628 CLM La Voz del Pueblo, Ibagué (tol) prob.,
ID Radio Maria, Radio Maria from Mexico may also be an option. 9197 km
970 0632 USA WZAN, Portland/Sunset Park (ME) 5742 km
1010 0700 CAN CFRB, Clarkson (ON) 6331 km
1120 0500 USA KMOX, Saint Louis (MO) 7329 km
1130 0600 USA WBBR, New York/Carlstadt [NJ] (NY) 6175 km
1140 0400 CAN CBI, Sydney (NS) 4931 km
1270 0634 USA WXYT, Detroit (MI) CBS sports radio ID 6667 km
1280 0644 USA WHTK, Rochester (NY) Fox ID, another option is WPKZ 6235 km
1330 0642 USA WRCA, Watertown (MA) 5888 km
1380 0547 CAN CKPC, Brantford (ON) 6406 km
1390 0640 USA WEGP, Presque Isle (ME) 5399 km
1470 0400 CLM Esperanza Colombia Radio, Medellín (ant) 9063 km
1480 0643 USA WDJO, Cincinnati (OH) ID 6953 km
1500 0700 USA WFED, Washington (DC) 6498 km
1510 0614 USA WLAC, Nashville (TN) 7325 km
1520 0642 USA WWKB, Buffalo (NY) 6337 km
1560 0646 USA WFME, New York/Queens (NY) 6174 km
1580 0643 CAN CKDO, Oshawa (ON) 6252 km
1590 0643 USA WARV, Warwick (RI) rel. px 5944 km
1600 0642 USA KLEB, Golden Meadow (LA) ID 1600 am KLEB, booming! 50 dB SNR 8111 km
1640 0541 USA WTNI, Biloxi (Gulfport) (MS) Possum ID, booming 37 dB SNR 7931 km
1660 0650 USA WBCN, Charlotte (NC) ID Fox sports radio 7033 km
1660 0642 USA WWRU, Jersey City/Carlstadt (D) (NJ) 6176 km
1690 0625 USA WPTX, Lexington Park (MD) 6523 km
1700 0639 USA KBGG, Des Moines (IA) ID The Champ 7298 km

After a long preparation time, a lot of gardening work and a failed attempt to set up the 8 m mast, the double delta antenna is ready and waiting for the connection of the balun / resistance box and the coax cable. As soon as the weather permits, initial tests can be carried out.

The DDA is suspended from 2 guy points at a height of approx. 6 m. A compromise already resulted in the suspension. Anchoring points 8 m high were not possible because a mast bar could not be set up in this length. The horizontal wires run 1 m high. It is fitted with a 16: 1 balun. A terminating resistor has 1 kOhm. The resistor sits in a fuse holder and can be easily replaced with another if necessary. The total scope of the DDA is approx. 78 m. The targeted receiving direction at approx. 325 °. By using quick-change termination boxes, the DDA can also be quickly changed to approx. 155 °.



Pictures (from left to right)
1 Connected balunbox
2 Connected resistorbox
3 The 6m mast with guy lines
4 An aluminum pole in the ash bears the second anchor point
5 + 6 balun box with 16: 1 balun
7 + 8 box with 1kOhm resistor in the fuse holder

Left: The terminating resistor of currently 820 ohms is waterproof in an HT tube. The connections are mounted on lamp terminals, without much effort to remove.

Center: Middle: The mast top in 7.50 meters, to the left of K9AY mast. An aluminum tube of 4 m length carries the tip, attached to the plum tree with clamps, freestanding.

Right: The 9:1 balun also resides in an HT pipe. The 4m long mast made of aluminum stands with only 2 guy wires in a ground pipe, which once served as a prop for a parasol. I still wrap my balune myself ...

For the 40 m long wire I use galvanized uninsulated electric fence wire with a diameter of 1mm. Source: 1000 m / < 33 €

Shot 1: Flag-Loop. The noise level is near -138 dBm, signal at -105.3 dBm. Direction 80°.
Shot 2: K9AY. The noise level is near -130 dBm, signal at -107.1 dBm. Direction 35°.
Shot 3: 50 m longwire. The noise level is near -127 dBm, signal at -108.5 dBm. Direction 30°. Connected two CMCC.

It looks a bit better than I suspected in the last post. The antennas were for comparison without preamplifier.

Note: A precise statement can not be derived from this, all antennas should have had the same direction.

The loop has a total circumference of almost 40 m and closes the gap between northeast and southeast of K9AY. The top of the mast is 7.50 m high. The direction of reception is 80° across the northern Indian subcontinent, via Southeast Asia, western Australia and the New Zealand South Island, huge targets for MW-DX.

The loop can be relocated with a few simple steps, if necessary. For Central America reception, only balun and resistance are reversed. As it is rather quiet without a suitable preamplifier, it is amplified by the RPA-2 from DX-Engineering. This brings 17 dBm, which is still 10 dBm below the noise figure of the the K9AY or the 50-longwire.

The flag loop was built according to the pattern of FO0AAA, but is twice as large. The audible front-to-back ratio is better than K9 and longwire, as is the directivity. It was the only antenna that audibly filtered Palangkaraya, Indonesia at 3325 kHz (31.9.2019, 17z).

So much wood for an antenna that is suspended relatively quickly. Some preliminary work is nevertheless necessary for the measurements to be correct.

More additions to the loop will bring time. Now I'm curious.

Left: In the HT box at 4 m height is a Beverage Antenna matching set. The HT box was overhauled and re-waterproofed.

Middle: the CMCC was connected to the HT box with a 75 ohm coax cable at a distance of 5 meters. The ground rod is a discarded water pipe.

Right: a poplar serves as a holder for 3 long wire antennas, each 50 m in length. Not shown: a 2nd CMCC 5 m away from the receiver.

How are the CMCCs? First tests brought a significantly reduced QRN under thunderstorm disturbances.

Common mode choke coils act as a simple wire against push-pull current (signal), while acting as an inductor against common mode current (noise).

The kit, concerned on the HAM radio, contains all the necessary materials to quickly assemble a CMCC box. Only a 16mm drill for the PL jacks and another narrow drill bit for the screw feedthroughs are required, apart from the soldering iron. The box is IP55 certified and can be waterproof if you work carefully on the holes. The three central ferrite cores are shrink tubing sheathed, the associated thin coax cable is cut to the correct length sufficient. For a tech-savvy hobbyist, the assembly is easy, even if as in my case the instructions are missing and can not be delivered on request. The substitute transmitted by the manufacturer images of the open finished box could not help. In particular, I could only do the screwing with a number of washers at its own discretion. Since the screw connection also affects the water resistance of the box there are a few points deduction at this point. Also because the screws are not retractable as shown on the website, but come as slotted screws therefore. Another point loses the box due to an oversized wing nut that does not want to fit on any of the screws. Replacement by post was announced after a prolonged contact with the manufacturer.

Two of the boxes are inserted into the coax cable, one 5 m from the antenna's feed point, the other one 5 m from the receiver entrance. From the earth connection of the box a grounding line must be applied to the ground spike. These are not included in the kit. The earth connection is small in size, more than a 1 mm Ø line does not allow the eye with the pin. The wing nut would dress better if one had chosen a larger one. At this point, you can only rework yourself and realize your own ideas of a good ground connection.

The kit cost on the HAM radio 27 €, so 54 bucks for 2 CMCC boxes + a can of cold beer for free, which you can easily drink away while writing the many emails to the manufacturer.

The CMCCs significantly reduce thunderstorm disturbances. The 50-m antenna now has 4 grounding points.