[ARDF] fibreglass/kevlar yagis

[Jay Hennigan]

On Sun, 21 Sep 2003, Dick Arnett wrote:

> I was intrigued by the Aussies antennas in Hungary and started
> acquiring the materials to build one when I get the time (hi).
> A few months ago I was in charge of a major fibre relocation project
> at work that had numerous fiber count single and multi mode cables.
> I checked all of the cables used and only one had a fibreglass/kevlar
> stiffener that was of appropriate size.

Dick, what is appropriate size?  I'm familiar with the quarter-inch
fiberglass rods used in the Cubex Yellowjacket quads, and other comments
here suggest bicycle flag rod or electric fence post material.  This
seems to me to be too thick and stiff for an ARDF yagi that is going to
get trashed in the trees, fallen on, etc.  I was thinking more along
the lines of about one-eighth inch that would take the braid from RG-58
relatively easily.  I've never seen the Aussie antenna so am somewhat in
the dark.

>  This one was a Berk-Tek Single Mode LTP1B024 ADVENTUN TYPE ONFP OFN-FT6.

Unless that's the mother of all cables, a quarter-inch stiffener seems
kind of large so I'm guessing that a smaller diameter is indeed what is
being used successfully.  Too thin and it whips around in the wind, too
thick and it's subject to breakage.

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