WEBVTT 1 00:00:09.640 --> 00:00:15.439 The Ham Radio two point zero Audio podcast rip. Thank you for downloading and 2 00:00:15.480 --> 00:00:19.239 listening to this podcast. So basically what I do is I take all the 3 00:00:19.280 --> 00:00:24.879 audio clips out of my videos and upload them to spreaker and then from there 4 00:00:24.879 --> 00:00:31.239 they're spread out to iTunes and SoundCloud and now Amazon Audible as well. But 5 00:00:31.320 --> 00:00:35.079 I want to welcome you and thank you for joining the audio section of this 6 00:00:35.560 --> 00:00:40.159 series on Ham Radio. I hope you enjoy it, and I would appreciate 7 00:00:40.200 --> 00:00:45.880 you leaving us a comment or a review on whatever podcast service you're listening from. 8 00:00:45.920 --> 00:00:55.640 Thank you in seventy three. I hope you enjoy it. It's been 9 00:00:55.640 --> 00:01:00.520 about three years since I've built a hex beam on camera. I emphasized the 10 00:01:00.560 --> 00:01:03.399 on camera part for people like kad m Ord that want to tell me I 11 00:01:03.399 --> 00:01:06.519 can't build in tennis. So this is the brand new twenty twenty three version 12 00:01:06.560 --> 00:01:08.359 of the Buddy HECKX, the hex Beam from Buddy Poole. I got brand 13 00:01:08.359 --> 00:01:12.319 new legs and since then what's changed is well, first of all, the 14 00:01:12.359 --> 00:01:15.359 winders have changed. These are new winders that I had. There's new winders 15 00:01:15.359 --> 00:01:19.000 that I got from Buddypole. Two elements on that winder, two on that 16 00:01:19.040 --> 00:01:23.000 wind er two on that winder. Instead of the ring terminals, it now 17 00:01:23.040 --> 00:01:26.959 has loop terminals that we will put onto this mast after we build it. 18 00:01:27.120 --> 00:01:30.640 These are the same guy wires and guy rings that they had last time. 19 00:01:32.439 --> 00:01:38.560 He changed the tension calls it a tensioner Buddy HECKX tensioner. He changed it 20 00:01:38.599 --> 00:01:42.079 to yellow from blue, and he put a neat sticker on the bag so 21 00:01:42.159 --> 00:01:48.519 that audio increased the gain by like ten or twelve dB. This right here 22 00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:51.799 will be explained later for Dawn in five SKT. And then of course we've 23 00:01:51.840 --> 00:01:55.599 got the mast Works tripod. This is the thirty foot MassWorks tripod, and 24 00:01:55.599 --> 00:02:00.359 we're gonna put this all together now, so stay tuned, all right. 25 00:02:00.439 --> 00:02:04.719 Specifically for Don, Don had a good question. I'd like to tease Don, 26 00:02:04.719 --> 00:02:07.000 he's a good sport, but he actually had a good question. This 27 00:02:07.079 --> 00:02:12.280 is the mast, the center mast, and the mass Works tripod, and 28 00:02:12.360 --> 00:02:17.599 this threaded top piece is for the original Buddy Pole Deluxe, the single element 29 00:02:17.680 --> 00:02:21.680 dipole that he makes. So what we do is we take this off if 30 00:02:21.680 --> 00:02:23.080 I can do it with one hand, because I'm holding one holding the camera 31 00:02:23.080 --> 00:02:25.479 with one hand right there. What we do is push that button in take 32 00:02:25.520 --> 00:02:30.000 that off, and then the hex beam the buddy heck sits on top of 33 00:02:30.039 --> 00:02:31.840 this, so we don't use this at all. And it's something I didn't 34 00:02:31.879 --> 00:02:35.639 include in my last video on Don and was asking about it because he recently 35 00:02:35.759 --> 00:02:38.599 got a hex beam. Hex beams are shipping, so be patient if you're 36 00:02:38.639 --> 00:02:42.159 on the waiting list. But it was a good question if something I didn't 37 00:02:42.199 --> 00:02:44.919 cover my first video, so thanks Don for pointing that out. So what 38 00:02:44.960 --> 00:02:50.520 we do is we take the center masked out. This is the seven section 39 00:02:50.840 --> 00:02:53.520 mast that comes with the thirty foot mass Works tripod, and then we put 40 00:02:53.560 --> 00:02:59.120 in this build mast. And this has done specifically for people who are five 41 00:02:59.159 --> 00:03:01.080 foot three inches tall like myself, who don't want to build the hex being 42 00:03:01.840 --> 00:03:05.400 when it's up here in the air, So you get to build the hex 43 00:03:05.439 --> 00:03:08.120 being from down here on the bottom, and then the hex beam itself sits 44 00:03:08.199 --> 00:03:12.719 up three or four or five different feet like that. So you'll see that 45 00:03:12.840 --> 00:03:15.680 here in a minute, so stay tuned and keep watching for what it looks 46 00:03:15.719 --> 00:03:20.240 like when it's done. But this center mast right here replaces this piece that 47 00:03:20.280 --> 00:03:23.000 comes out of the middle of the tripod, and then we insert this piece 48 00:03:23.080 --> 00:03:27.960 here so that we can build it lower to the ground. So let's get 49 00:03:28.000 --> 00:03:31.719 started, okay. Step one, well step three actually, because we've already 50 00:03:31.759 --> 00:03:35.639 set up the tripod and the mast. These are the legs, and these 51 00:03:35.719 --> 00:03:40.039 go on first. The strap here is very handy because it holds everything together. 52 00:03:40.680 --> 00:03:46.280 And in the center of this this is the center mast for the hex 53 00:03:46.360 --> 00:03:49.879 beam and these are the six legs of the hex beans. This all fits 54 00:03:49.879 --> 00:03:54.759 together really well. So I'm gonna take these six pieces out. And he's 55 00:03:54.759 --> 00:03:59.000 got these wrapped around the center mast here, and that's okay. There's a 56 00:03:59.039 --> 00:04:01.840 couple different ways to wrap these. These are guy wires, is what they 57 00:04:01.840 --> 00:04:05.639 are, paracord type material. There's a couple of different ways to wrap these, 58 00:04:05.639 --> 00:04:09.599 and you can do what however you want to, but this is probably 59 00:04:09.599 --> 00:04:13.840 the most efficient. Yours is going to come this way, wrapped between here 60 00:04:13.840 --> 00:04:17.000 and here, untangled it the way you want to, and when you're ready 61 00:04:17.040 --> 00:04:19.000 to pack back up, pack it back up the way you want to. 62 00:04:24.879 --> 00:04:30.040 And this right here is the center post that will go on to the build 63 00:04:30.040 --> 00:04:35.079 masks that we're going to have right here. So this piece right here fits 64 00:04:35.079 --> 00:04:41.920 over the center spot. Open this up, push that down, clamp that 65 00:04:42.040 --> 00:04:46.279 down right there, and now we've got the whole thing. So this right 66 00:04:46.399 --> 00:04:51.319 here is the BNC connector. This is the BNC feed point, and it's 67 00:04:51.360 --> 00:04:55.480 one feed point for all six bands on the antenna. This is twenty meters 68 00:04:55.560 --> 00:05:00.959 at the top, seventeen, fifteen, twelve, ten and six. Now, 69 00:05:00.959 --> 00:05:03.639 the great thing about the buddy hecks is that this color black, gray, 70 00:05:03.920 --> 00:05:10.040 yellow, red, green, and blue is the same color for all 71 00:05:10.079 --> 00:05:14.319 of these wires. This is black and gray. These separators are black and 72 00:05:14.360 --> 00:05:17.399 gray. These separators are red and yellow. So that's the twenty meter right 73 00:05:17.439 --> 00:05:21.240 there, and these are green and blue. So you know which one goes 74 00:05:21.279 --> 00:05:25.680 where. And obviously the six meter one is going to be shorter of a 75 00:05:25.720 --> 00:05:28.800 wire than the twenty meter one, so it's easy to tell which one goes 76 00:05:28.839 --> 00:05:31.079 which. Now what you can do, and I think what I'm gonna do 77 00:05:31.120 --> 00:05:35.360 because this is a field day, right six, ten, twelve meters and 78 00:05:35.519 --> 00:05:41.480 seventeen meters. The yellow and the green one are not allowed at field day, 79 00:05:41.639 --> 00:05:44.000 so I think I'm just gonna skip those. I'm not going to even 80 00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:46.560 put those on today. You could put all six on. You could put 81 00:05:46.600 --> 00:05:47.839 one on, you could put two on, you could put any combination if 82 00:05:47.839 --> 00:05:50.720 you want on. It's all fed from the same feed point, and you 83 00:05:50.759 --> 00:05:56.879 can see how that looks. The original version didn't have these separators in here. 84 00:05:56.959 --> 00:05:59.720 It had a post here and a post here with nothing in the middle 85 00:05:59.720 --> 00:06:04.160 of this post. So these were added later and they provide stability to the 86 00:06:04.240 --> 00:06:08.120 center mass there. So that's really good. So I'm gonna put on put 87 00:06:08.120 --> 00:06:11.399 on these legs next, and we'll go from there. Okay, this is 88 00:06:11.720 --> 00:06:15.279 one of six legs, and all six legs are the same, so it 89 00:06:15.319 --> 00:06:18.720 doesn't matter which one you put wear. And all of them have three sections. 90 00:06:20.959 --> 00:06:28.800 They go together like this right there, and then you put those and 91 00:06:29.040 --> 00:06:30.839 just like that to there to the center mask. Wow, I've had too 92 00:06:30.879 --> 00:06:36.160 much to drink today. There we go, and then that one sits there, 93 00:06:36.600 --> 00:06:41.040 and all six of them go into each one. And again it doesn't 94 00:06:41.040 --> 00:06:43.560 matter which one is which. They're all the same, so you don't have 95 00:06:43.600 --> 00:06:46.680 to put one in the specific spot or something like that. People ask that 96 00:06:46.720 --> 00:06:49.240 all the time. So we're gonna put up all six of these after I 97 00:06:49.319 --> 00:06:53.480 untangle them, because I made it really mess, a big mess. Here. 98 00:06:55.040 --> 00:06:59.519 There we go, and we're gonna put them all out just like we 99 00:06:59.560 --> 00:07:04.759 did the first so the end of this has a parachord coming out the top 100 00:07:05.399 --> 00:07:09.160 and one coming out what I would call the right side. If you look 101 00:07:09.160 --> 00:07:11.279 at it like this, it's the right side if you look at it from 102 00:07:11.319 --> 00:07:16.800 here as the left side, but the top paracord goes to the center mast. 103 00:07:17.160 --> 00:07:23.720 I've got two of the masts up already right here, and if you 104 00:07:23.720 --> 00:07:26.920 look at this part you zoom in right there. It's got a little slit 105 00:07:27.160 --> 00:07:30.639 in the end of it, and it kind of creates a t after you 106 00:07:30.680 --> 00:07:34.959 put it in the centerpiece here, so the te s through there and then 107 00:07:34.959 --> 00:07:39.279 it's tea behind there. You can't really see it as dark anyway, but 108 00:07:39.399 --> 00:07:44.800 that holds it in place. So all six legs connect here, and then 109 00:07:44.800 --> 00:07:49.639 once you get all six legs placed, you will connect the second parachord coming 110 00:07:49.639 --> 00:07:54.480 out of each leg to the leg next to it, So at the end 111 00:07:54.680 --> 00:08:03.279 it'll make a big HEXBA makes a circle six legs that are all connected at 112 00:08:03.319 --> 00:08:05.560 the center mast that are also all connected to each other around the perimeter. 113 00:08:05.759 --> 00:08:09.000 So that's what we're doing right now. So I have put on the six 114 00:08:09.079 --> 00:08:13.199 meter and the ten meter and if you look right here, you can zoom 115 00:08:13.199 --> 00:08:18.319 in right there. The wires go, the elements go underneath. This is 116 00:08:18.319 --> 00:08:20.959 an important part that Chris from Buddy Pole told me. So you point this 117 00:08:22.040 --> 00:08:24.639 downward like this right here, it'll spin all the way around. So what 118 00:08:24.720 --> 00:08:28.319 you do is you point it downward and you hang the wires underneath the feet 119 00:08:28.399 --> 00:08:31.000 right there. So this is the six meter obviously, this is the ten 120 00:08:31.039 --> 00:08:35.240 meter. This is the twelve meter, which I'm not going to put up 121 00:08:35.240 --> 00:08:37.360 today because we can't use that at field anyway. So I'm stringing up the 122 00:08:37.360 --> 00:08:45.399 fifteen meter right now, unwinding it and springing at the same time. It's 123 00:08:45.440 --> 00:08:54.320 kind of clipping right there. This is the last leg of it here. 124 00:08:56.240 --> 00:09:01.559 Okay, this comes over into the V part here and then that hook terminal. 125 00:09:03.399 --> 00:09:07.519 So before we had the ring terminals on the end of the elements, 126 00:09:07.759 --> 00:09:09.720 and we had to take this piece completely off and put the ring terminal over 127 00:09:09.759 --> 00:09:13.519 it and then put this piece back. So with these hook terminals like this 128 00:09:15.039 --> 00:09:18.759 like that, you don't have to do that. So that's an improvement over 129 00:09:18.799 --> 00:09:22.519 the last one that I built. On a video like this, and if 130 00:09:22.559 --> 00:09:24.679 you look, if you come back like this, well, first of all, 131 00:09:24.759 --> 00:09:28.679 let me show you this. Also, these slide down to these stoppers 132 00:09:28.720 --> 00:09:33.600 like this one right here. This is the seventeen meter. I'm not going 133 00:09:33.639 --> 00:09:35.559 to hang that one either, but this you slide them down all the way 134 00:09:35.559 --> 00:09:39.600 down as far as they'll go closest to as far as they'll go close to 135 00:09:39.639 --> 00:09:45.480 the center, and that's the correct measurement and length of the element. So 136 00:09:45.840 --> 00:09:48.279 it's flexible a little bit. But this slides up and down, and then 137 00:09:48.320 --> 00:09:54.320 this v right here. This is the direction that the beam is pointed. 138 00:09:54.919 --> 00:09:58.200 So when you get it up in the air and you want to rotate it, 139 00:09:58.440 --> 00:10:01.559 this is the your beam is pointed right here, so of course it 140 00:10:01.639 --> 00:10:05.840 rotates three hundred and sixty degrees and this is the way that it's pointed. 141 00:10:07.000 --> 00:10:13.000 So right now we're pointed basically east, basically east. But the thing is 142 00:10:13.039 --> 00:10:16.480 with a hex beam, I've talked off the side in the back of a 143 00:10:16.559 --> 00:10:20.840 hex beam many times, so it's sort of directional, but not really the 144 00:10:20.879 --> 00:10:24.600 way a hex beam works. If you don't know, it's actually two elements. 145 00:10:24.600 --> 00:10:30.000 So this part in the middle right here, this is paracord that separates 146 00:10:30.159 --> 00:10:33.519 this element, which is if I get my terminology correct, this is the 147 00:10:35.679 --> 00:10:39.039 director and then the back element. There is these three legs which is the 148 00:10:39.159 --> 00:10:43.000 reflector. So it's like a two meter yang. So it's got one element 149 00:10:43.000 --> 00:10:46.440 in the back, one element in the front that are separated by parachord just 150 00:10:46.559 --> 00:10:50.960 a time together. There's not an electrical connection between these two. And then 151 00:10:52.200 --> 00:10:58.960 the director resonates from the reflector in it points this way. So that's the 152 00:10:58.120 --> 00:11:01.879 entire hex beam right now. So we're gonna put I'm gonna put the twenty 153 00:11:01.879 --> 00:11:05.960 meter element on and then we're gonna raise it up. I've got all of 154 00:11:05.000 --> 00:11:09.960 the elements on the antenna that I want, so now I've got to lift 155 00:11:11.240 --> 00:11:16.080 the hex beam off of the built mast and put it back onto the regular 156 00:11:16.159 --> 00:11:18.639 push up mast so that we can have the antenna set up the way it 157 00:11:18.679 --> 00:11:48.600 is supposed to be. So here goes. Watch this. This is an 158 00:11:48.639 --> 00:11:52.879 oblong mast on the mast works, and it's supposed to keep it from when 159 00:11:52.879 --> 00:11:58.240 the wind blows it from turning around the mast. A lot of round masts 160 00:12:00.039 --> 00:12:03.200 when when the beam gets turned by the wind, it'll just kind of turn 161 00:12:03.240 --> 00:12:05.200 around the mast. This one's supposed to keep that from happening, and pretty 162 00:12:05.240 --> 00:12:07.960 much it does. It's got a little bit of movement, a little bit 163 00:12:07.960 --> 00:12:11.240 of play in it, but for the most part, it keeps it from 164 00:12:11.240 --> 00:12:13.879 moving. So now we just got to put it up. We need to 165 00:12:13.919 --> 00:12:16.159 do the guy wires now, so that's the next part. Today's video is 166 00:12:16.159 --> 00:12:22.919 sponsored by Kyle's tackle Box. So this video today is sponsored by Messi and 167 00:12:22.960 --> 00:12:28.440 Polony Coax. It's not messy, but it's very clean. This is the 168 00:12:28.559 --> 00:12:31.840 ultra Flex seven Sihara and we've run this. I know we've run the Sahara 169 00:12:31.919 --> 00:12:33.720 on the on the Buddy hex before, maybe not the seven, I don't 170 00:12:33.759 --> 00:12:37.279 know, it was one of them. It was the Sahara. Check out 171 00:12:37.279 --> 00:12:39.200 the link in the description. Blow save a five percent discount of gigaparts with 172 00:12:39.200 --> 00:12:43.679 the coupon code of casey five him meet for this very very awesome coax. 173 00:12:45.000 --> 00:12:48.200 Well, so do not set up the hex beam without putting the coax on 174 00:12:48.240 --> 00:12:50.399 first. I'm not going to tell you how I know that. So this 175 00:12:50.559 --> 00:12:54.759 is the BNC feed point that is made by by Buddy Pole. Obviously this 176 00:12:54.799 --> 00:12:58.000 will handle about six maybe seven hundred something like that. I personally run five 177 00:12:58.039 --> 00:13:03.399 hundred and fifty wots from kPa five hundred through this connection into the Buddy Hex. 178 00:13:03.720 --> 00:13:05.600 The Buddy hecks itself will handle legal limit, but he's working on a 179 00:13:05.639 --> 00:13:09.360 new connector that will be I believes two thirty nine that will be legal limits. 180 00:13:09.360 --> 00:13:13.159 So this one actually won't handle fifteen hundred wats. I think he said 181 00:13:13.159 --> 00:13:15.519 this one will do up to a kill a watt, maybe nine hundred one 182 00:13:15.559 --> 00:13:18.120 something like that, but I don't know. Ask Chris at Buddy Pole and 183 00:13:18.159 --> 00:13:20.799 see what he says. But we're only running a hundred ways for field Day, 184 00:13:20.799 --> 00:13:22.559 so it doesn't matter. So I've got this all connected up and I'm 185 00:13:22.559 --> 00:13:35.519 going to connect it. I'm going to strap it down here. So the 186 00:13:35.519 --> 00:13:39.320 hex beam was pretty much a fantastic hit all weekend. Between it and the 187 00:13:39.399 --> 00:13:41.519 d X commander, we were able to work all the bands we wanted to 188 00:13:41.559 --> 00:13:43.440 work, including six meters, which sadly was not really We never really saw 189 00:13:43.440 --> 00:13:46.919 any activity on six f T eight, so oh well, I've tuned over 190 00:13:46.960 --> 00:13:50.759 there a few times, never really saw much. But it was on fire 191 00:13:50.840 --> 00:13:54.840 on Thursday when we were here. We were working some six ft eight Thursday 192 00:13:54.960 --> 00:13:58.679 night, and wow, I was hoping it would be like that for field 193 00:13:58.759 --> 00:14:01.159 Day, but no, such lucky thing. I didn't I say, I 194 00:14:01.200 --> 00:14:05.960 didn't do it properly. It got set up correctly and that's fine, but 195 00:14:05.039 --> 00:14:11.240 there's a specific way to set up the Mastworks tripod and guy it before you 196 00:14:11.279 --> 00:14:13.960 put the hex beam on it. And since I did the hex Beam build 197 00:14:13.000 --> 00:14:18.320 video this time, I just kind of haphazardly put up the MassWorks tripod. 198 00:14:18.360 --> 00:14:20.320 But I realized that not even in my last video to that show how to 199 00:14:20.320 --> 00:14:24.679 put up the MassWorks tripod correctly the way that Buddy Pole suggests it. Again, 200 00:14:24.960 --> 00:14:28.279 you can do it however you want to, but there's a really easy 201 00:14:28.320 --> 00:14:31.039 way to do it that makes sense. So next time we'll hit that one. 202 00:14:31.120 --> 00:14:33.279 Check the links in the description, blow and thank you.