[time-nuts] Spring cleaning and antenna placement

Magnus Danielson magnus at rubidium.dyndns.org
Mon Apr 13 15:04:12 UTC 2009


Fellow timenuts,

You know you are a time-nut when your spring cleanup dutines involves 
getting onto the rooftop and clean your GPS antennas. In my case my dual 
frequency antenna (really a survey antenna, a Novatel GPS 502 L1/L2) was 
due to lack of patience temporarily put up there in a not so fixed 
position, so that the wind shifter position and attitude as it slided 
down the tiles that it was effectively useless, especially as it was 
pointing mostly north into the big GPS hole and putting the antennas 
nuling power towards most of the low-attitude sats. Let's just say that 
I'm not too proud of that mounting... I know better, I know far 
better... but I am impatient to play with the news toys, so I hope 
people recognice the feeling.

My biggest problem is that I have a large TV antenna pole sitting ontop 
of one of the chimneys. It is needed as the house is partly down a valey 
to get a nice and clean TV signal. Fairly new also, as the old antennas 
was broken.

I have got part of the gear to mount the GPS antennas on the other 
chimney, but lack the proper antenna tubes.

My big L1 choke rings (AT575) can be mounted without the central tube 
but I wish to use the combination of that and the three outer mounting 
screws. I need to build a mounting platform for it anyway.

Besides, I think the way I pull cables and what cables I use could 
improve. My RG 58 is certainly not optimum, but it is cheap, easily 
available alongside connectors and suitable strip and crimp tools.

So... hints for tubes and other mounting aspects would be nice.

Cheers,
Magnus




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