-
You can now help support WorldwideDX when you shop on Amazon at no additional cost to you! Simply follow this Shop on Amazon link first and a portion of any purchase is sent to WorldwideDX to help with site costs.
Shakespeare big stick 3
- Thread starter Staybolt
- Start date
My god man. Where did you find that. It’s like finding a box of 9mm Hydrashocks at a Cabelas store. Or Amish working girls at a truckstop.
Hello Staybolt: Pretty simple, it just screws together and mounts to a mast, and hook em up coax at the bottom of the antenna. No tuning is required if I remember right.
Jay in the Great Mojave Desert
Jay in the Great Mojave Desert
If you are referring to the vintage three-section fiberglass base antenna, check to verify the lock washers between the sections are Grade 316 Stainless Steel and not the cheap chrome plated mild steel lock washers. Grade 316 and not Grade 304 stainless steel.
When I was a kid, may parents had the marine version of this Shakespeare antenna connected to a 148GTL on their boat. It also had an HF SSB radio mounted right next to it. That HF radio had a 2 inch wide ground strap that went to a gold plated grounding block mounted under the salt water line.
One day I punched another hole in the ground strap where it ran behind the CB and connected it to a screw on the case of the 148... I could not believe the signal increase on both RX and TX! It was almost 2 S-Units on the 148 meter in receive and similar in TX.
Today I know the strap did not give the antenna another 12db of gain but, what it did to pull that wide 1/2 wave lobe of radiation down on the horizon, was amazing. With the antenna mounted directly over the salt water and having a low inductance electrical connection to it, that antenna talked like no other at the same power.
Years later I repeated the experiment on a friends boat that was more willing to let me make a mess onboard. We brought an Antron 99 with four Toshiba's to drive it. Put the antenna in a fishing pole holder and proceeded to out talk a local base station on a Joe Gunn beam with equal power in DX. About 40 feet of extra coax was allowed to drop below the antenna and into the water under it, in order to form a noticeable capacitive connection to the water.
It is very difficult to out perform an end fed half wave mounted over salt water. The near infinite ground plane causes the pattern to be very low on the horizon. Because the half wave has no null in the center of its pattern like a 5/8 wave, you don't have to worry about any null, inconveniently lining up at an angle useful for DX.
One day I punched another hole in the ground strap where it ran behind the CB and connected it to a screw on the case of the 148... I could not believe the signal increase on both RX and TX! It was almost 2 S-Units on the 148 meter in receive and similar in TX.
Today I know the strap did not give the antenna another 12db of gain but, what it did to pull that wide 1/2 wave lobe of radiation down on the horizon, was amazing. With the antenna mounted directly over the salt water and having a low inductance electrical connection to it, that antenna talked like no other at the same power.
Years later I repeated the experiment on a friends boat that was more willing to let me make a mess onboard. We brought an Antron 99 with four Toshiba's to drive it. Put the antenna in a fishing pole holder and proceeded to out talk a local base station on a Joe Gunn beam with equal power in DX. About 40 feet of extra coax was allowed to drop below the antenna and into the water under it, in order to form a noticeable capacitive connection to the water.
It is very difficult to out perform an end fed half wave mounted over salt water. The near infinite ground plane causes the pattern to be very low on the horizon. Because the half wave has no null in the center of its pattern like a 5/8 wave, you don't have to worry about any null, inconveniently lining up at an angle useful for DX.
Last edited:
It is a big deal. .
The difference is, standard Grade 2 or Grade5 material has a high content of carbon steel and will RUST! When the elements eat away at the chrome covered lock washers, the lock washers will rust and the rust will make contact with the mating surfaces which is not a good thing. Grade 304 stainless steel also has low-carbon content and not the best for outdoor environment. A good hardware store and boat marina shop will have Grade 316 hardware. 304 and 316 is stamped on the head of a bolt. Bring a magnet with you at the hardware store. 316 will not adhere to a magnet and 304, Grade 2 and/or Grade 5 will adhere to a magnet. If you do not specifically ask for Grade 316 and just ask for a stainless lock washer, the store associate will point you in the direction of Grade 304 fasteners.
Now you know the difference.
We use stainless almost exclusively at work due to it being immersed in "stuff" that will corrode any non-stainless in a very short time. By short I mean a screwdriver dropped into a stock pond one day will be pitted and almost useless the next day. In our chemical baths it will turn black within seconds. We use 316 almost exclusively however occasionally some 304 gets into the mix. It's not a big issue for us as we replace lock washers every time something is taken apart and that is every day. We must use a ton of lock washers each year and you can definitely see the difference in the different grades. Occasionally I will sort them out using a magnet as the 304 will stick to a magnet albeit weakly but the 316 will not at all. Then there is the clown that cannot tell stainless from zinc plated and keeps throwing that crap into the stainless bin.
In 2019 I purchased a new (24') IMAX 2000 and the first items I checked were the "nice and shiny" chrome plated 1/2" and 5/8" lock washers and sure enough, they were carbon steel. The local ACE Hardware store had the 316 stainless lock washers and there were some 304's mixed-in, but I was prepared because I had my magnet with me.We use stainless almost exclusively at work due to it being immersed in "stuff" that will corrode any non-stainless in a very short time. By short I mean a screwdriver dropped into a stock pond one day will be pitted and almost useless the next day. In our chemical baths it will turn black within seconds. We use 316 almost exclusively however occasionally some 304 gets into the mix. It's not a big issue for us as we replace lock washers every time something is taken apart and that is every day. We must use a ton of lock washers each year and you can definitely see the difference in the different grades. Occasionally I will sort them out using a magnet as the 304 will stick to a magnet albeit weakly but the 316 will not at all. Then there is the clown that cannot tell stainless from zinc plated and keeps throwing that crap into the stainless bin.
Not for nothing but, that "big deal" over the split washers, actually provided me an education on quality hardware. I knew cheap stainless would rust but I didn't know the numbers of the different grades or that the cheaper the grade, the more magnetic is was. In any event, you did get your question answered here. There is nothing to do with this antenna other than screw the sections together and put it on a mast. I don't think anyone meant to offend you by simply providing information, that was in addition to what you asked.
PS: This also explains why every piece of stainless hardware at the marine supply store, cost twice as much and everything you can buy at Home Depot, will rust over time.