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With the unseasonably warm fall temps this past weekend I was finally !!! able to finish my 80m four square array. The array uses four FORCE12 #EF-180BV verticals with a Comtek Systems phasing box. Each vertival uses four 1/4 wavelength radials elevated about 8 feet above ground. The array is installed in a wooded area and some of the nearby trees are in the 60 foot range. Having read the FORCE12 EF-180BV advanced installation notes, I tuned
pairs of radials for 3.660 MHz and then each antenna for the same.
Based on the installation notes I expected the array to shift up to around
3.790 MHz but it barely shifted at all. I retuned each antenna to
around 3.790 MHz and the array then resonated at 3.812 - 3.822 MHz
Sunday I decided to fine tune the array so that it resonated below 3.800
MHz rather than above it. The fine tuning process was difficult and
at times I wondered if I was doing more harm then good. In the end
the array resonates between 3.793 and 3.797 MHz and shifted up 24 - 30
KHz. The final test data is below.
DIRECTION Fr (single ant) Fr (array) DUMP PWR. Fr SHIFT NE
3.764 MHz
3.794 MHz 3.0 %
30 KHz
Special thanks go to Jim Fisher VE1JF, Jim K4SQR, and Tom N6BT for their
technical support and encouragement. I recommend anyone putting up
a four square up to consider
Les Peters, N1SV
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