Number
18
on
your
Feedback
card
FYI:
FQY
AnotherlookattheFractalQuad
Yagi.
GarySchweitzerKF7BS14641SE152ndClackamasOR97015[kf7bs@iname.com]
W
hilemovingseveraltimesduringthelastfewyears,Ihadtoleavebehindmypreviousantennasandmasts.Thus,whenwefinallyarrivedataQTHthatwasmoreorlesspermanent,itwastimetostartoverfromscratch.Scratchisagoodtermtodescribemyhambudget,too.Ibeganlookingforanantennadesignthatfitthefollowingcriteria:
1.
Useofavailablematerialsatreasonablecost(freeisgood).2.
Small
enoughtofitonaneasily
erectedmastandrotate
withaTV
rotator.
3.Bettergainthantheexistingverti-calantennasIalreadyhave.4.GooddirectivitytolimitQRM.5.LowradiationangletoworkDX.Since10metersisnow
opening
up,Idecidedtosticktoasin'glebandantennaforsimplicity'sandcost'ssake.WhilesurfingtheInternetforantennaideas,IstumbledacrossChipCohen
NlIR's
Website,
[WWw.
fractenna.com].IwasintriguedwithhisFractalQuadYagi(patentpending)becauseofitssmallsizeandeaseofconstruction.Idecidedtoputonetogether
just
tofindoutwhethersuchadesignhadmerit.
18
73
AmateurRadio
Today·
October1999
Design
AsdescribedonChip'sWebsite,the10meterFQYissimilartoacubicalquadinshape,butisinasmallerform.Infact,theelementsarealittleover4feetperside.Heclaimsimpedancetobecloseto
SO
ohms,soitcanbefeddirectlywith
SO
ohmcoax.Ithas3dBdgain,front-to-backratioinexcessof25dB,andabandwidthof500kHzforlessthan2:1VSWR.Healsodescribesconstructionofa10mFQYbuiltbyPhilNIZKT,using#9aluminumgroundwire(availablefromRadioShack),andplasticwaterpipeforspreaders.Ifollowedhisconstructionmethodasmuchaspossible.AlongthewayIdidsomeworkofmyown,suchascomingupwithequationsforscalingthedrivenelementfordifferentfrequencies(likedesigningfortheCWband).AlthoughChip'sdesignwassimplifiedtoallowduplicatedrivenandreflectorframework,Itriedtoenlargetheret1ector
4
anddoawaywithastub,althoughasseeninthephoto,asmallstubhadtobeaddedlatertotunethereflector.Forpurposesoffoldingthewires,eachlengthbetweenbendsisbrokenupintosegments,thetotalofwhichequalsthelengthofeachelement.
Fig.
1
showsthelengthforeachsegmentof1/4oftheelement,thesamepatternrepeatingfortheotherthreesides.UnlikethefigurespublishedontheFractennaWebsite,thefiguresin
Fig.
1
gofromtheattachmentpointofthefeedlinetowheretheelementagaincomesclosesttotheboom,thisbeingthelogicalstartingpointfortheendofthewire.Youshouldalsonotethatthesefigureswillholdfor#9wireonly.Adjustmentwillhavetobemadeifyouareusingadifferentwirediameter.Asfarasspacingbetweenelementsgoes,Ihadavailablea10-ft.pieceofaluminumpipeandIfiguredIcouldexperimentwithdifferentspacings.Theresultsshownherearefor6.5-ft.spacing,widerthanChip's4.5feet.
Construction
ThefirstpartofbuildingtheFQYconsistsoffabricatingaframeworktoholdtheelements.AsIhadexperiencec.onstructingquads,this
part
wasfairlysimple.Althoughspiderscouldbeconstructedofnonconductivematerialtokeepmetalawayfromthenearfieldoftheelements,Iusedaluminum,as
REDUCEDPRICEr
185WattPower
Supply
..
COR
.5"
.25"
6.25"
4.875"
4.875"6.25"
4 ~ 8 7 5 "
4.875"
6.25"
6.25"
4.5"
EQUATION
LENGTH
4.875"4.875"
6.25"4.5"6.25"
r
ELEMENT
DRIVEN
ELEMENT
REFLECTOR
4.875"4.875"
6.25"6.25"7.5"
Fig.
1.
Segmentchart,
one
side(wlthfeed).
6.25"
SPLITHEREFOR
DRIVEN
ELEMENT
FOR
REFLECTOR
ADD
0.125"
PER
SEGMENT
that'swhat
I
hadavailable.Infact,asthephotoshows,somespidersarefab-ricatedfromsurplusextrudedalumi-numfromadiscardedwindow.Thespidersaredrilledtoacceptmufflerclampsthesizetofittheboom,andspreadersareattachedusinghoseclamps.YoumayhavetocutnotchesasIdidtoallowthehoseclampstose-curethespreaderstightly.Spreadersareconstructedfrom1/2"plasticwater
Materials
List
Qty.
Item
40-ft.rolls#9Radio
3
Shackaluminumgroundwire1bagof1008-in.cabletiesx
10ft.
schedule40
4
1/2-in.plasticwaterpipex
10ft.
schedule40
1
1-1/4-in.plasticwaterpipe
I
x6ft.aluminum
I
1angleorequiv.
1
x6.5ft.1-1/2-in.aluminumpipe42-in.mufflerclamps
Table
1.
Materialslist.
pipe.Crosspiecestoholdtheelementsarethenconstructedfrom
1-114"
plasticpipecutto5"length.A7/8"holeisthendrilledthroughthesidetoallowthespacertoslidedownthespreader.Ascrewcanbedrilledintoeachspacertoholditinpositiononthespreadersoncetheelementsaremounted.Aholeisthendrilledintheendofeachspreaderlargeenoughtopassacabletiethroughtoholdtheoutsidecomersoftheelement.Analternatespacerhavingasmallersilhouettecouldbefabricatedfrom1/2"plasticpipebycuttinganotchinthecenterandmountingtothespreaderwithascrew.Oncetheframeworkisbuilt,theelementscanbebentandmounted.First,thetotallengthoftheelementshouldbemeasuredonthewire.IfyouuseRadioShackwire,itcomesin40-ft.lengths,sowirewillhavetobeaddedtocompletetheelement.Thenamarkshouldbemadeateach1/4sectionofthewire.Next,awoodenblockmarkedwiththelengthofeachbendisusedtomeasureoffthesegmentlengthandthewireisbentaroundthecomeroftheblocktoa90degreeangle.Caremustbetakentobendthewireinthecorrectdirectiontoformthepattern.Ifoundthatthebestwaytomakeaccuratebendsistobringthecenterofthewirefromthepreviousbendeven
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73
Amateur
RadioToday
•
October199919
'···.1...
tot--
tl
o--_
•...•
Once
the
clements
are
completed.
theycanbe
attached
tothe
spreaders,This
can
easilybedonebylayingthe
element
onaflatsurface
and
overlay-
ingtheframework.Attachthe
clement
corners
with
cable
tiesfirst.
and
thenattachtherest
of
the
corners
tothe
spreader
spacerswith
cable
ties,
Once
the
clement
isattached.the
cable
tiescanbe
trimmed
and
the
spacerslocked
down
withascrew.A
mount
atthefeedpoint
can
be
made
witha
piece
of
1/2"
plasticpipe
cut
tofit
betweenspreaders
and
attachedwith
screws.
A
balun
or
coaxialchokeshould
beusedatthefeedpointto
prevent
radiationfromtheteedline.
Fig.
2.
Azinunhplot:
Chipsfrec
space
atinuitl,
plot.M\'version
showed
nolobes
of!
therear
comers
and
atront-to-lrack
of
/2
dB.
PhotoA.
The2-e1ement
FQYmounted
atthe
author's
home.Theelementspacinghere
is
6.5feet,
2073
AmateurRadio
Today·
October
1999
Results
With
the
FQY
at10feel.
measure-
ments
of
VSWR
were
takenwiththeinternal
SWR
meter
onmy
ICOM
740.
Resonantfrequencywasabout
300
kHz
lower
than
thatshown,
but
bandwidth
was
about
the
same.
Had
I
workedout
the
procedureabovebeforehand.
I
probably
would
nothave
had
to
adjust
thedriven
element.
butasthis
was
thefirstattempt.
trimming
andrebending
of
wireensued,
Tuning
thereflectorforfront-to
back
resultedinabest
of
12dBvia
ground
wave.
Chip
informs
me
thatin
creasing
the
boom
lengthwill
decrease
themodeled
FIB
andbroadenthebandwidthto
800
kHz.moreinkeepingwithmyresults.A
shortenedboomlength
willincreasethe
FIB
asin
Chip's
version.
The
FIB
stayed
aboutthe
same
withthe
antenna
at24feet.It
should
also
be
notedthat
testingwith
sky
wave
signals
resulted
inafigure
closer
to30dB.actually
better
thanthe
claimed
25dB.Ihac!no
way
to
measurethe
for
ward
gain
empirically.sonofiguresare
given
here.However.
recent
testingbyKI
KW
confirmed
theresults
mod-
eled
by
Chip
asfaras
gain
and
FIB
went.
measuring
againsta
reference
antenna,
After
verifying
SWRand
front-toback.itwas
time
to
give
the
FQY
therealtest.
How
doesitdoontheair?
With
the
antenna
stillat10feet.I
startedtuning
acrossthe
band
andheard
VK2ARJ
calling.I
gave
him
a
Cur=r
11z:::
ge
.8'
AziMith
l:'1[J1.
l:lclHltlonII'mglc"
8.8deg,
Cupvriuht
Frnctul
Antenna
Sysu-rns.Inc.1tsed
bv
permlssfun
Inthisway.afull
elementshould
be
able
tobe
constructed
witha
minimum
of
rebending.
If
aluminum
ground
wireisused,asuitable
connection
willbe
needed
atthewireends.
After
severaltrials.I
settled
withthe
method
of
crimpingasolderless
eye
terminalto
each
end
of
thewire.
Then
connection
is
made
witha#6screwthroughthe
eyes
and
tightened
withanutandtoothwasher.
Cu=
'"
5.41
dBI
EU!19
.;l!)llax
Outer
~ i n g
~
5.11
dBI
1'Imx.
Gain
=
5.il
d.lli
with
themark.
and
then
make
thenextbend.Asthewireisbent.itwi
ll
draw
the
previous
bend
forward
tobringthe
outsideedge
of
thewire
even
withthe
mark
so
that
the
outsideedge
of
the
previous
bend
totheinside
edge
of
the
next
bendequals
the
segment
length.As
eachquarter
section
of
the
element
isfinished.the
mark
madepreviously
onthe
clementcan
be
used
to
judge
if
adjustments
need
tobe
made
inbends.
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