So I got the hexbeam installed, took quite a bit of work but wow the reception is significantly better than my old off center fed dipole.
This is the NA4RR model. The hexbeam itself was really easy to put together. I had issues with the mast. Lots of issues. The previous antenna was built with military camo poles which are 1.75″. 1.75″ leaves enough room to level the pole in the tripod so I figured I would go with that size for the mast. I figured thicker was better so I ordered 1.75″ aluminum tubing with 1/4″ thickness. For some reason I expected the antenna would have a clamp for the mast. Had I read the directions a fifth time I might have noticed that it called for schedule 40 pipe. So the antenna base didn’t fit into the mast due to the thickness. I called a place in Tampa that sells pipes and tubes and they said they had schedule 40 aluminum pipe. I went over there and the closest they had was 2″ tube(1/8′ thickness). It fit close enough I thought so I went home with it. I wanted to hang my OCF dipole off the thrust bearing so I could keep 40m and 80m and use it as my noise antenna with my MFJ-1026 noise canceller. The thrust bearing is supposed to support up to 2″ but its doesn’t really work with a mast that size, too tight. I stopped for the day at this point.
I was thinking about seeing if I could exchange the thrust bearing for the slightly larger and more expensive version and then I got the idea to try and use the 1.75″ tube I originally purchased and slide it into a foot long piece of the 2″ tube that fit the antenna base. It fits but just barely. I had to pound it on the driveway and it went right in, a little too far. So now the antenna base hole doesn’t line up. I started banging it with a rubber mallet. It didn’t do much, these tubes were tight. I figured it was hot out so I would try and cool it off and see if I could shrink it to get the 2″ tube to back off a little. I put some ice in a cooler and tried that. Didn’t work. Next was WD40, sprayed a little on both sides and this worked. I had to hit it with a hammer a bit more but it eventually pushed out enough. I got a nice blister on my hand from all the hammering.
Next I put together the hexbeam in the driveway. I tested the mating of the different sizes of fiberglass rods after painting them but not the antenna base. So I had to sand off some of the paint from the ends of the rods before getting them into the base, WD40 help here as well.
Then there was the issue of getting it on the roof. I thought I could just muscle it up with the mast attached but it weighs quite a bit with the 1/4″ thick aluminum and is also a bit unwieldy at 22ft diameter. I ended up just pushing it up on the roof(I’m tall) and then attaching the mast with the help of the gf on the roof.
Getting it into the rotator turned out to be a “real pain in the neck” to quote the most famous Youtube Hexbeam Tripod video(probably only one of those). The wind was blowing and I had a longer mast for the tripod section below the rotator. I ended up taking a foot off the tripod part of the mast and 2ft or so off the upper mast to make it easier to get into the rotator. I don’t think 3ft will make a difference. After getting it in the rotator I connected the guy ropes. I don’t think they are even necessary with this short of a mast except that I want to use the thrust bearing as a support for my dipole. I also roped up a pulley so I can add 30m dipole at a later date. It was a nice relief once it was finally in the rotator. The antenna seems to be working great, I got 3 DX stations right away, the first was Isle of Man and he was loud. Looking forward to doing some more testing.
