finally found some aluminum tubing :)

[BOOTY MONSTER]

ive call this place befor about aluminium tubing and was told they could only special order it and had a $100 minium order , plus shipping . called to day and a different guy said they do carry it and helped me find their website and to get some prices while he was on the phone with me . they only sell 20 foot lengths . heres whats available ...

Steel Services :: Steel Distributors :: Metal Distributors · Virginia · Maryland · North Carolina :: VA MD NC

the schedule 40 tubing is ..
3/4 inch .98 cents a foot
1 inch $1.45 a foot
1 1/4 is about $2 a foot

scheduel 80 in 1 inch is $1.90 a foot

the walls are about twice as thick as the .060ish most cb antennas are made with . i know the i10k and some other premium antennas are much thicker than normal antennas though . he does have some short sections where folks only wanted a certian length that i could most likely find a 3 or 4 foot peice or the next smaller or larger size to make a full 22 1/2 foot or 23 foot radiator . or.......... im curious about maybe just going 20 feet but with a 5 or 6 foot X tophat on it (lowes here sells aluminium strips in several sizes and up to 8 foot in length) . ive read that top hats can have a positive effect , but the several inches or foot or so of their typical diameter is too small to have a real effect , let alone as much as what is claimed by some of their makers .

anyhow , im thinking the 1 inch S40 will be plenty strong enough . its actual dimensions are ....
Pipe Size

O.D. / I.D. / Wall Thickness / Weight Per Ft.
1.315 / 1.049 / .133 / .581

thats almost a 12 lbs of aluminium all by itself , im thinking i wont have to worry about it bending in bad storms at all !! LOL . i am still considering the 3/4 though , at .113 thickness its almost twice as thick as the merlin or other typical antennas but would weigh a lil less than 8 pounds , theres only a $10 difference between the two .

what diameter tubing would you guys recomend ? im thinking the biggest i can afford ....
and........ to paraphrase Biil S .......
to tophat or not to tophat , that is the question ??

ill still use my wire ground plane contraption im made for my 1/4wgp . but it shouldnt be too difficult upgrade to 12 gauge wire to 9 ft coax sections (the whole coax , just dont connect the center) for a larger surface area if it would help or even adding two 18 ft 3/4 aluminium tubes later for horozontal ground elements . im a poor duck and cant afford to do it all at once . im still not %100 sure about doing this cause if i fail , well , im poor and really cant afford to waste money . but my 1/4 wave works and ive got some confidence . now to figgure out how i want to do the coil or loop for tuning ......

simon004's thread will help a lot with that though .
http://www.worldwidedx.com/cb-antennas/35605-5-8-wave-coil.html

 

[W5LZ]

Boot',
You just ain't shopping in the right dumpsters!
- 'Doc

 

[Simon004]

I'm in the same boat, money is tight here also, but at the moment I think it's the same for everyone.

There is no such thing as failure, if it works the first time you have done something wrong !!!

Antenna's are not rocket science, if you build one and it doesn't work, you just have to go through and double check all of the connections/measurements etc. There are a lot of people on here willing to help with any problems. I put my 5/8 wave up today for the first time and the lowest SWR was 3:1, and that was on 23MHz
On top of that, when I brought the antena down to alter the coil, the wood I was using for an insulator snapped This is the fun though really, overcoming the problems that present themselves. I have now learned today that I need a stronger insulator I'll find something to use that is cheap and strong enough.

My last antenna project was a cubical quad, and it took around 6 months to complete, build some here, wait for the finances to buy more bits, then build some more, you get there in the end. The main thing is you see the project through and have fun while doing it.

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

thanks fopr the replies so far guys . i got another question ......
can copper and aluminium be soldered together ? exp. aluminium tubing to solid copper wire (4 or 8 gauge) . also if it can what size soldering iron is needed ? will my 35 or 40 watt radio shack iron work or is one of those big 100 watt plus irons needed ? would it be better to just use a ring terminial and a hole with a SS nut and bolt ?

 

[W9WD]

I have never heard of that being done.
What frequency did you say you are building for?

 

[RickC.]

Booty,

You've probably already done this, but have you checked Texas Towers and DX Engineering online? Even (ugh) MFJ lists tubing in the usual sizes.


Rick

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

im just a CB'er so 11 meters is my bag . ive got more channels on my washington , but CB channels are definately my priority .

i know copper can be soldered to aluminium , many many antennas do exactly that . just wondering if i have to have a stronger soldering iron to do it . im thinking use some sand paper to have a clean corse surface on the aluminium for a solid connection .

could i use a plumbers torch and solder if my 35 watt iron isnt big enough ?

 

[W5LZ]

I think I'd start warming up that torch. It really just depends on how 'large' the things are that you want to solder together. Once you get to something in the neighborhood of 14 ga. wire, it'd better be a large soldering gun, or torch. Then you want to be careful about burning up what ever you put that torch to. (No 'MAP' gas, you'll regret it.)
- 'Doc

 

[Simon004]

sounds like more trouble than it's worth, I just solder the copper wire to a ring crimp, then drill the alli and put a bolt through, works every time.

 

[Mr Clean]

DX Engineering has Aluminum Tubing and about anything for antenna builders.

 

[GunSlinger338]

If its sch. 40 you can thread it together

 

[GunSlinger338]

Dura Fix Aluminium Welding Video

 

[Wire Weasel]

I used to work at a commercial electrical supply house. They sold aluminum conduit in 10 foot sticks...all sizes. Came threaded on both ends and with one coupling....and it wasn't no $190 a foot either. Contact your local ele. supply house.

good luck!

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

i think im gonna try pretty much whats in this image , but with a few slight changes . using the tubing i found locally .... but change the copper wire or tubing to 1 inch by 1/8 inch aluminium strips i can get in 8 foot lengths at lowes . i can use my same hanging X 4 ground plane contraption im using on my current homebrew 1/4 wave , but ive got an idea to ungrade it a lil too .

when i used to sell and build decks we sometimes got some jobs that wanted solid plastic lumber and im sure i can get a 3 or 4 foot scrap of solid 2x4 or 2x6 from our old supplier . im debating between a 22 1/2 foot verticle or a 23 , im leaning twoards the 23 , probally no real difference though . im thinking insert about 3 inches of the aluminium strip/loop into the slightly flattened few inches of the verticle and drill two holes with nuts and bolts gorillia tightened and silicone sealed around the buts and bolts heads but leave the bottom open (also silicone the verticles connections) . the loop would be preshaped to look like the loop on a maco 5/8 , but be all one contious section . im thinking with the 6 foot length to have a 9 inch leg on eack end that comes out to start turning and twisting to make the 360 . should come out to about 17 or 18 inches in diameter . a 3 inch foot for the top to go into the 23 foot verticle and a i inch foot on the bottom to connect to the 2x4 or 2x6 and the ground radials and coax shield .

thinking of a lil change in the coax feed too . using the bare end of the coax (shield and center) strip the outer covering and fold the braid back about 20 inches .... similar to whats done in this article ....
The Vertical Bazooka Antenna - Ham Radio Library
heat shrink and silicone the ground braid about a foot back and solder a ring connector so its neat and clean and attach it to the bottom of the tuning ring (ground wires/radials will connect there too . solder a ring terminal flush to where the braid is folded back and silicone it also . let it dry and use a clothes pin to hold the terminal in place for tuning and drill a hole and use a nut and bolt in the ring when the best tuning place is found .

so thats what im thinking ........ constructive critisim is highly appreciated .

as long as i can tune it/make it work it really wont cost much . less than $30 for the tubing , about $15 for the 8 foot 1 inch aluminium strip , a few dollars worth of stainless steel nuts and bolts , soooo , right at $50 for materials . $15 to do my upgraded version of my ground radials . ill be sure to borrow my sisters digital camera when i get to do this .

oooopssss.. sorry weasel , my bad . that shoulda been $1.90 a foot . my dumb azz forgot the decimal .

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

i went to get the tubing yesterday . man that stuff is thick and HEAVY . i wouldnt have thought aluminium would be so heavy . the inside/outside diameters of the 3/4 and 1 inch have a lot more overlap than 1 thousandths of an inch too , lol . but , i didnt get it because i simply wont to be able to get the feedpoint more than 18 or 19 feet off the ground on something that heavy . for what im gonna use for mast and not being able to run guide wires i think a lighter 5/8 antenna at 25-27 feet feedpoint is gonna be better (for me) , whether i buy it or build it .