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STARDUSTER M 400 Assembly help.

unit_399

unit_399

EL CAPO
Jun 17, 2008
2,313
3,740
273
ALEJANDRIA, COLOMBIA SA
A few weeks ago I ordered a Starduster antenna, and it arrived today. The USPS shipping tube was pretty beat up, but everything inside was perfect.

I have a few questions about assembly. The instruction sheet was very bare bones and w/o text, so here goes.

Does the mounting mast (not supplied) have to be made from metal ?? I want to use a length of 2" HD plastic pipe since I have a lot of it . I always use a wooden electrical power pole or a length of Guadua as my "tower", since the less metal I have sticking up in the air the less lightning it will attract (hopefully).

Also . . . do the top and bottom radials have to be in alignment with one another ??

I think the answers to both of these questions is "NO", but never hurts to ask.

I can't get this thing put up fast enough. There are 20+ stations in our area, and my wife really misses cackling like a hen with all of her women friends every night. She's been bugging the hell out of me. My ears need a rest. o_O

Thanks and 73s.

-399
 
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You don't want mast to be a part of the antenna. Insulate.
Make choke balun right under antenna. For CB it would be 5 turns of coax on 4.25" diameter. Air core.
Tune by adjusting top part length.
Mike
 
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unit_399 said:
A few weeks ago I ordered a Starduster antenna, and it arrived today. The USPS shipping tube was pretty beat up, but everything inside was perfect.

I have a few questions about assembly. The instruction sheet was very bare bones and w/o text, so here goes.

Does the mounting mast (not supplied) have to be made from metal ?? I want to use a length of 2" HD plastic pipe since I have a lot of it . I always use a wooden electrical power pole or a length of Guadua as my "tower", since the less metal I have sticking up in the air the less lightning it will attract (hopefully).

Also . . . do the top and bottom radials have to be in alignment with one another ??

I think the answers to both of these questions is "NO", but never hurts to ask.

I can't get this thing put up fast enough. There are 20+ stations in our area, and my wife really misses cackling like a hen with all of her women friends every night. She's been bugging the hell out of me. My ears need a rest. o_O

Thanks and 73s.

-399
Click to expand...
the top and Bottom radials don't need to be aligned with each other have seen then put together both ways the mast needs to be some type of metal at the first 10 feet to work have fun great ant for what Thay are
 
Riverman said:
This one was simple.
103” aluminum vertical and four 4’ Francis mobile antennas.
The radial mount is a hub from an Antron 99 ground plane kit.
SWR is 1:1 on channels 1 and 40 and nearly flat on 20.
View attachment 62138
View attachment 62140
The red wire is to insure a good electrical connection between the antenna mount and the radial hub.
Click to expand...

Homemade Starduster Antenna

This one was simple. 103” aluminum vertical and four 4’ Francis mobile antennas. The radial mount is a hub from an Antron 99 ground plane kit. SWR is 1:1 on channels 1 and 40 and nearly flat on 20. The red wire is to insure a good electrical connection between the antenna mount and the radial...
www.worldwidedx.com www.worldwidedx.com

Based on the above,(Rivermans homebuilt "Starduster") I think a metal mast would be a detriment to performance.

73
David
 
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If the Starduster is put together correctly - the thing grounds to the mast - to reduce static and reduce the chances of you getting fried in the event of a direct lightning strike.
  • There's also the insight as to the antennas design itself.
    • IF the radial arms are tuned right - no matter they type of mast you use - the decoupling (balanced) current effects will stay at the antenna and not in your coax or the shack.

So the most "bestest" idea is to use metal mast - the arms that support the radials have their own issues but even the maker recommends that you use a strong mast support - so that usually tells the person wanting to use it to use a metal mast. (Hilarious note - Google inclined parson instead of person to be used - so if lightning were to strike...)

But also - if you see the hub, that PL-259/SO-239 is inside the unit so you will have to drop the coax down thru that pipe you use anyway.

The only other reason for that metal mount - is due to how that hub gains its strength - the rigid tube - so PVC fitting would work, but PVC can't withstand a lot of wind loading - so those bottom radial strut braces keep it from tilting and snapping out at the hub, but it cannot by itself - keep the antenna "vertical" - it only stiffens the hub joint - but cannot provide any torque staying power on plastic pipe.
 
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The metal mast isolates the coax from the radiating currents IE CMC
I have tried with metal mast and without.
metal mast is best.
 
I put up 2 Star Dusters and you have to use a metal because that is what the rest of you antenna anchors to at the hub that the coax hooks to. PVC would not be strong enough. And you should get a great SWR when finished almost a flat liner. ENJOY ENJOY
 
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