[amsat-bb] tripod recommendations

[J. Boyd (JR2TTS)]

On Tue, 12 Jan 2016 10:29:16 -0600, "Tom Schuessler" <tjschuessler at verizon.net> wrote:

> Zach,
> 
> Any good sturdy tripod will do.  The trick however is to get the arrow to
> stay put when you tilt to the side to allow for polarity change. 

I came up with an alternative solution that may work for some people: a
PVC pipe mount that allows you to "roll" the Arrow to allow for polarity
change (not a full 90 degrees, but it will get you in the neighborhood).

The photo below was when I had it mounted on my camera tripod with a
ball mount; I've since moved to a more conventional pitch/yaw type.

http://i.imgur.com/D0XwWlA.jpg

The homebrew mount is made out of 25mm PVC pipe -- two 90° corners, two
T joints, and enough straight pipe to fit. The T joints I found were,
luckily, exactly the correct length to fit over the boom and stay clear
of all the antenna elements. The pipe is also of a sufficient diameter
to allow the entire yagi to move laterally within it.

I drilled a hole in the bottom of the straight pipe of the same size as
the standard tripod shoe screw. I then "forced" a bolt of the same size
into the hole to "thread" it -- after this the tripod shoe fit snug onto
the pipe. (This is a temporary solution; later I'm thinking of a more
permanent mount made out of a pipe clamp.)

Et voila, a jury-rigged 3-axis mount. Using a standard pitch/yaw tripod,
I can also twist the yagi to change polarity without having to worry
that the tripod will bear extra weight to one side. Keeping the tripod
shoe about 5° tilted left in my case will allow the elements to be
perpendicular to the ground.

Hope this helps someone!

73

-- 
J. Boyd, JR2TTS/NI3B
the2belo at msd.biglobe.ne.jp
http://www.flickr.com/photos/the2belo/
http://www.qrz.com/db/JR2TTS
Twitter: @Minus2_C