Freebanding Talk The Planet :: Antennas :: Brent's Bamboo Quad (The BBQ) - how to build a cheap, lightweight dx quad ~ Runboard

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TheRealKeyboard
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Re: Brent's Bamboo Quad (The BBQ) - how to build a cheap, lightweight dx quad

Superb write up there Brent! emoticon

I've been investigating the possibility of a small quad for portable use and this this like a nice cheap and easy way or going about it.

I might steal your spreader fixing method and knock up a Pfieffer quad for use while bicycle mobile. Apparently, the performance loss of a Pfieffer is neglegable while the overall size is reduced quite a bit.

Thanks for the extra inspiration! emoticon

14/Jan/2009, 12:32 pm

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26fb99
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Re: Brent's Bamboo Quad (The BBQ) - how to build a cheap, lightweight dx quad

ey up mate.havent really used this enough to warrant changing the design yet but have been thinking if id used a dv27 type mounts(2 serated/toothed circles tightenened together at any angle from 0-180 degrees with a butterfly nut)instead of the qr mounts,then the 8 spreadders would collapse "in on themselves" and the wire elements open perfectly and not become tangled like an umbrella.the boom would have to be 2 meters long so all the spreadders collapsed into a 2meter long bundle.......wow b,the more i think,the more genius it sounds.

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yaesu FT857d,rmkl500,wilson5000,a99 (thats a real satchel of cack)/2element pubical quad(the BBq).split charger aux battery system.170a truck battery,mfj 941 versatune2
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laters peeps 73s

Brent 26 Fox Bravo 99

14/Jan/2009, 8:22 pm

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TheRealKeyboard
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Re: Brent's Bamboo Quad (The BBQ) - how to build a cheap, lightweight dx quad

I'm liking your thinking there! It would collapse down just like this design.

The splines on the DV mounts would certainly give it a good strong fixing. As I will be having slightly shorter spreaders, I can also have a shorter boom than 2m. I'm off to look at DV mounts - great idea! emoticon

14/Jan/2009, 11:24 pm

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26fb99
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Re: Brent's Bamboo Quad (The BBQ) - how to build a cheap, lightweight dx quad

nice one boss.let us know how you get on.how come your spreadders are shorter,you building a yagi?

15/Jan/2009, 1:14 pm

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TheRealKeyboard
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Re: Brent's Bamboo Quad (The BBQ) - how to build a cheap, lightweight dx quad

No, not a yagi, a Pfieffer Quad (see here).

Knights have both the 3/8th-DV and DV-3/8th adaptors but I'm wondering if the 3/8th thread is gonna be long enough to fit through the box section. I guess I could use the same method as you to attach the DV-3/8th to the bamboo (drill and insert a thread). Did you have any trouble with the bamboo splitting?

Here's the pieces I'm taking about:
This would be attached to the boom

And this attached to the end of the spreader:

At least with this adjustable method, you would be able to adjust tension on the loop too.

Thoughts?

15/Jan/2009, 2:17 pm

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26fb99
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Re: Brent's Bamboo Quad (The BBQ) - how to build a cheap, lightweight dx quad

no beefs with the bamboo.drill out the holes slighly longer and a mill wider than the threaded rod.trust the no nail(its harder than the bamboo)and if it does split a little,wrap duck tape tightly round th split.the split will also be full of no nails therefore tougher than a thin wall of bamboo.any pressure/strain is displaced into the boom as the the element is tensioned.
should be sound anyway if the spreadders are shorter than mine.
about the DV mountings.i had a ***** with undoing the elements from the qr mount.as you say.the thread is a little short to get any kind of nyloc nut or spring washer,so they tightend ok but undid easily.this is a problem because the loops at the end of the speadder(ele passes through)have to be alighned either inwardly or outwardly so to sort this i set the quad up,marked each spredder 1 to 4 (dots)and likewise the the coresponding qr mounts in the position they needed to be at on the boom(this is nearly invisible as it is black marker on the blue/brown tape)but is a treat as a visible for reference when putting it up.i then dismantelled it and remade the mounts in using thread loc (locktight).i would though suggest to you,insted of spending 20 odd quid on qr mount.have the 8 nuts tacked (two blobs of weld)onto the boom on the outside.a good engineer /welder will do this for about a 10 spot.this will give you heaps of thread,a perfect fix and allow you know exactly which position your spreadder will be (remember bamboo is sometimes a little curvy so this way you choose the way it ends up at.
hope this helps.goona go check out your link,

15/Jan/2009, 5:06 pm

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26pdi001
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Re: Brent's Bamboo Quad (The BBQ) - how to build a cheap, lightweight dx quad

what can i say fantastic build up mate emoticon

whats it work like emoticon

---
cq dx cq dx
icom 7400 icom 756 pro1 tri bander beam titan dx audio by w2ihy 400 watts helps as well

23/May/2009, 3:27 pm

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26fb99
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Re: Brent's Bamboo Quad (The BBQ) - how to build a cheap, lightweight dx quad

ha ha.i htought this thread was now thread bare .....get it? having been thrashed to death.
funny that with the renewed interest comes my renewed interest.ive just made some major changes to its configuration re. the mounts for the spredders....the quality of the qr mounts whilst being up to their intended job,were to weak to let me tension the elements and in fact made the spacing pull inwards causing the swr to be perfect at 26.555!!!! a full meg down....wierd if any of you can explain this to me.i assume to impedance alters.
taking a tip from jim fb010s link i cut the boom in two,and bolting on 4 Tee brackets per end in a cross ,this allowed the 4 spredders per end to be sleeved with 28 mill copper for stengh,drilled,bolted and pivot inward onto the boom and allow each element to remain attached but simply collapse like an umbrella....this makes the it easier again by half,yet double strong.the 2 cut ends of the boom slide into
a 2 foot sleeve of slightly bigger box ali and are u bolted which now replaces the broom handle boom mount (too much movement/rotation in wind)and by chance i also realised that this allowed me slide /adjust the element gap to and from each other and expriment with F/b ratio,side rejection etc and also let me slide the driver out,rotate it 90 degs and rebolt for vertical polarisation.winner.i also replaced the block connectors and changed the coax feed,i got the coax connector box from an old tv aerial,made the feed connection then drilled a small hole and filled with silcone for strengh and waterproofing.
will take and post pics soon.

this quad now looks perfect,is really strong,is equally good as a homebase or portable installation and performs brillaintly.
if i would make anything differnt now it would be the inclusion of a 2.1 balun at the feed point.to "straighten up" the radiation pattern a little but these are about 50 quid and the whole antenna minus the original QR mounts only cost around 20...do the math.
maybe thicker guage elements to broaden its narrow band either side of 555.
im really made up with it now.

25/May/2009, 1:15 pm

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simon26OD004
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Re: Brent's Bamboo Quad (The BBQ) - how to build a cheap, lightweight dx quad

Well after reading this thread (and also the fact that my quad fell over and broke) I was inspired to redesign the way my spreaders were attached to my quad. The pics of the fold away quad were great, and now after 2 evenings of hard work I have acheived the same result (almost, haha !)

Essentially all I have done is buy some ali angle from Wicks and mount 2 lengths of this onto the boom with U bolts, then mount the spreaders onto the ali angle with 2 bolts, so if you remove one of the bolts, the spreader will fold inwards towards the boom. As with everything I make, it could be better, but it has reduced my setup time from 45 minutes to 15 minutes !!! It is still a work in progress but I'll try and throw some pics up soon.

quote:

11/Jul/2009, 12:40 am

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FB220
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Re: Brent's Bamboo Quad (The BBQ) - how to build a cheap, lightweight dx quad

Mate that quad rocks and a brilliant article on construction too.
I have got something very similar mounted on the 30ft pole i had my vertical on. Just waiting for some skip to test it now.