Project - HF Triband Yagi and Tower

Example Mosley TA-33-JR (W2DAN)

To date, I've had pretty great success using just my Maxcon OCF-3K80 (off-center fed dipole).  I've made contacts around the world with a little perseverance and this great multi-band antenna.  But when I was just a kid getting into radio, I fell in love with the Yagi beam antennas.  There are all kinds of beams out there. Some traditional concepts that Yagi and Uda would be proud of...all the way to the bizarre looking hex beams.  I'm still very interested in the traditional Yagi because I actually find them attractive to look at, sturdy, and great proven performers.

Here is what I'm planning to get started:

-Mosley TA-33-JRN 3 element Tribander or similar

-Maxcon 1:1 Balun (though Mosley recommends air wound)

-Yaesu G-450A Rotor

-8-10ft Rooftop Tower (or regular tower if I can get a good deal)

-2213A-PL-RT-1.5 (PL259 to ring terminal connectors), coax, rotor cable, etc...

To Get Started:

-A friend has some tower equipment and a few used Yagis that I'm going to look at soon.
-I've already got a quote for a new Mosley beam in case I can't find one locally.

UPDATE 2/18/2018:

-Purchased a used 50ft Rohn 25G tower, house bracket, and rotor plate
-Purchased a used CDE CD-45 rotor and control box

UPDATE 2/20/2018:

-Placed my order with Mosley for a new TA-33-JRN

There is currently a long lead time on the Mosley due to large orders from their international dealers.  25-30 business days before shipping and then it will ship FedEx Ground...that gives me some time to get my tower ready, get the last bits and pieces together, and do a little more planning.

UPDATE 2/21/2018:

-Got some free outdoor rated CAT5e cable to use for rotor control cable
-I connected the rotor and controller with CAT5e and made sure everything was working.
-A local tower company is going to provide an estimate for installing the tower.

UPDATE 2/25/2018:

-Got some Rust-Oleum Cold Galvanizing Compound spray and sprayed the tower sections to make them look new
-Mounted the rotor plate in the top section of tower
-Test fitted the CD-45 rotor on the rotor plate and checked clearance

UPDATE 4/5/2018:

-Got notification that the Mosley beam will ship today
-Need to follow up with the local tower company to see if they will be able to do the install

UPDATE 4/7/2018:

-The Mosley TA-33-JRN beam arrived...still so much to do!

UPDATE 4/25/2018:
-Tower company is working up estimate for installing the tower.  May be going up as soon as next week!

UPDATE 4/30/2018:

-I was hoping to use a house bracket and avoid guy wires. However, the house bracket that I have isn't big enough for the roof overhang on my house.  Also, drilling into the house and messing up the vinyl siding isn't preferred.  The tower company has recommended a small concrete pad and 3 guy wires at 35ft.  I'm waiting to hear an estimate and proposed time frame.

-Switching to the proposed location will require more rotor control cable and coax. I'll need to get a plan together for that...

UPDATE 5/6/2018:

-Mosley box has been opened and inventoried the parts.

Mosley TA-33-JRN

-Hole dug for tower base, bottom filled with gravel, and base leveled and concreted in.

Hole for Rohn 25G Base

Gravel added to allow water to drain from tower legs

Tower base set in ground

Tower base concreted in ground

-Holes dug for guy wire posts, posts set and concreted in.

-Changed the plan to 3 guy wires at around 25ft and 3 more at 50ft
-Guy wire length figured, and 1/4" stranded guy wire cut to size
-Turnbuckles and other rigging has been gathered...except 1/4 guy wire "preforms"
-RG-8x bulk coax ordered.  I'll install PL-259's and ring terminals myself.
-Tower should be stacked and guyed in the next week or so.

UPDATE 5/16/2018:

-Obtained guy wire preforms

-Due to rain forecast for the next week, tower stacking is again delayed

UPDATE 5/28/2018:

-Changed the plan for guy wires to be 3 at around 17ft and 3 at around 34ft to give enough separation between the beam and the guy wires to prevent a false ground issue. We may put 3 more non-conductive wires at the top it we feel it's necessary.
-Got 40ft of tower stacked, aligned with transits, and guyed. Just the final tapered top section needs to go up!

Tommy Jackson from Quest Tower Corp doing the hard work

Brandon (KN4HDZ) helping supervise

-Soldered ring terminals on the RG-8x coax.
-Assembled the Mosley, leveled the elements, and tightened hardware.

Me (KG4LST) with the Mosley TA-33-JRN waiting to go up the tower

-When the weather clears up, the last 10ft top section of tower should go up quickly.  I'll need to find something to shim the small OD mast into the rotor clamp.  Then the beam will go up, rotor cable and feed line, and several ground rods will be driven in the ground...It sounds easy enough, but I'm not sure how long it'll take. 

UPDATE 7/8/2018:

-Drove 1 10ft copper ground rod at the base of the tower.
-Project had stalled out but hopefully will resume soon.

UPDATE 7/20/2018:

-Tommy came over and stacked the last section of tower.
-The beam has been pulled to the top and and bolted to the mast.
-The antenna direction was calibrated to "true North"
-The ground rod at the base of the tower has been connected to the tower leg
-A ground rod has been installed near one of the guy anchors.  The 2 guy wires on the post were bonded to the ground rod below it.  This will be done on the other 2 guy anchor points when time allows.

I haven't done any SWR tests yet since the coax isn't terminated...but I'mt too tired.  Maybe tomorrow! Hi Hi!

I need to get a lightning arrester (Polyphaser) for coax protection.  I need to figure out the long term cable routing and either bury the cables or figure out how to route them neatly to the shack.

UPDATE 7/23/2018:

-Terminated the coax (though it will be spliced at some point to add the Polyphaser)

-I have checked the SWR and find it to be very good on all 3 bands (10m/15m/20m). However it was noted that the SWR changes with the direction of the antenna indicating that the wire dipole is probably causing some issues.  

-I made some initial contacts on voice and FT8.  Everything seems to be Fine Business for now.