Re: [IRCA] The "Pipe Dream" Traveling MW Monster Loop Antenna - a little OT
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Re: [IRCA] The "Pipe Dream" Traveling MW Monster Loop Antenna - a little OT



Gary,  

Your mentioning of the psychedelic patterns from the "blue glue" gave me
an idea for the didgeridoo - tie-dying the pipe!  That might be cool. 

73,
Dave

-----Original Message-----
From: D1028Gary@xxxxxxx [mailto:D1028Gary@xxxxxxx] 
Sent: Tuesday, May 05, 2009 12:10 PM
To: HASCALL, DAVID CIV DFAS; irca@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: The "Pipe Dream" Traveling MW Monster Loop Antenna - a
little OT

Hi Dave,
 
Thanks for your comments on the PVC loop experimentation, and when the
article comes out, I hope you will have fun building the size and design
of your choice.
 
Although I don't have any information on the painting of PVC pipe, I
have inadvertently made some weird psychedelic designs using too much of
the blue PVC glue in the fittings, when constructing the ten PVC loops.
That, plus the fairly stiff smell of the blue glue (which is for outdoor
use only), can almost make a DXer think he is back in the late 60's.
 
73, Gary
 
 
 
 
In a message dated 5/5/2009 8:09:47 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
DAVID.HASCALL@xxxxxxxx writes:

	Thanks for all of the hard work and great detail on these
monster loops,
	Gary!
	
	I'm particularly interested in anything that says "foolproof."
You'd
	have to know me, to fully understand.
	
	I have an off topic question (though it may be useful for DX'ers
who
	want their PVC loop frames to have some "color" to them).  Have
you done
	much painting on PVC pipe?  I have been reading up on building
	Australian didgeridoos out of PVC pipes.  Obviously a white one,
with
	the manufacturers codes and such on the side would work but not
look to
	good (and the codes sometimes show through paint).  I've heard
that you
	should prime them and then use acrylic paint, others say sand
them and
	then use Krylon Fusion paints (for plastics and fiberglass).
I've also
	heard that one should avoid oil paints as they may break down
the pipe.
	So if you (or anyone) has any experience or guidance on painting
PVC,
	I'd like to know.
	
	For those inclined, google +make +PVC +didgeridoo and there are
dozens
	(at least) of pages on building them but the painting info is
all over
	the map.  I thought that building a didgeridoo would be a good
	grandparent - granddaughter summer project, on the cheap (less
than
	$10).
	
	73,
	Dave in Indy
	
	
	
	
	------------------------------
	
	Message: 4
	Date: Mon, 4 May 2009 19:50:45 EDT
	From: D1028Gary@xxxxxxx
	To: irca@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, ultralightdx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx,
	    am@xxxxxxxxxxx
	Subject: [IRCA] The "Pipe Dream" Traveling MW Monster Loop
Antenna
	Message-ID: <bbe.4a42d13d.3730d955@xxxxxxx>
	Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
	
	Hello Guys,
	
	In the experimentation here to develop huge MW loop antennas
using  
	lightweight, tough PVC frames, I had often thought wistfully
about how
	effective  
	these monster loops would be on nearby ocean beaches-- if only I
could
	fit 
	them  in my compact car. It seemed like an impossible dream-- or
was it?
	
	After building ten of these PVC loops from 18" up to 7.5' feet
per side,
	I  
	had lots of experience in PVC assembly. I recalled that the
larger
	diameter 
	of  PVC pipe fits rather snugly in the fitting slots when fully
	inserted, 
	with or without glue. There was also experience in using
silicone
	rubber to 
	"lock in" symmetrical coil windings, after pulling out all the
slack  in
	
	the turns. Recalling these two facts made me convinced that a
	collapsible,  
	fully symmetrical monster PVC loop could be designed that would
easily
	fit in 
	a  compact car, for easy deployment anywhere a DXer wished to
use it.
	
	The project proceeded like a dream, and the first "Pipe Dream" 6
foot  
	(diagonal) collapsible PVC loop is now a reality. The system
uses
	silicone  
	rubber sealant on all four coil winding pipes, with two
removable
	spreader arms  
	and two removable coil winding pipes. The single remaining PVC
pole of 6
	
	feet  (with the attached coil) can then be easily transported in
a
	compact 
	car, along  with the removed parts.
	
	Reassembly is a foolproof 30-second job, in which the spreader
arms and
	
	coil winding pipes are reinserted into their respective PVC
fittings.
	The 
	"Pipe Dream" Loop suddenly becomes remarkably rigid and
symmetrical,
	with gain 
	and nulling ability equal to a fully-glued 6' PVC  loop. This
size of 
	passive tuned loop antenna provides SERIOUS performance  for any
	receiver!
	
	Of course, the design is not limited to the 6 foot dimension.
The  
	collapsible PVC loops can be as large or as small as the DXer
desires
	(although 7 
	foot diagonal loops are probably the maximum size for compact
car
	owners).
	
	Apartment and townhouse dwellers can use this collapsible
monster loop
	for  
	great DX at ocean beaches, state parks, or anywhere else they
choose (it
	
	will even fit inside a standard room, if your family can
tolerate  it). 
	Photos of the first "Pipe Dream" collapsible PVC loop have been
	uploaded to the 
	"ultralightdx" Yahoo group site, and full construction
information will
	be 
	given in the upcoming PVC Loop article.
	
	73, Gary DeBock   
	


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