[aprssig] Quad antenna construction techniques

[Curt, WE7U]

On Tue, 9 Jan 2007, Richard Amirault wrote:

> Many (most?) arrows are carbon based and will conduct electricity. Not sure
> how well they would be for spreaders.
> Wooden dowels or fiberglas rods will work. You can purchase JUST the arrow
> nock to attach to the ends.

Hmmm.  You never know where discussions will lead on this sig!

I'm a bowhunter so I have a few arrows of different types that I've
collected over the years.  Cedar shafts are common for the recurve
or longbow enthusiasts (which I'm not).  Once you get into the
"training-wheel" bows you switch to aluminum or carbon as the wooden
shafts will shatter on you.  I shot aluminum shafts for many years
but shoot carbon with my latest bow.

You can buy shafts w/o fletching with a nock already mounted on one
end.  Depending on the type of shaft you may easily be able to put a
nock on the other end, or it may require the expertise of an archery
shop to machine the end and/or glue the nock on properly.  Some
nocks glue inside the shaft, some glue onto the outside.

If you were nearby I'd hand you some cedar or aluminum shafts that I
most likely won't be using again.

For 2-meter quads you'll need spreaders longer than you can find in
an arrow shaft, so perhaps wooden or fiberglass rods with arrow
nocks glued on might work for you.  That's if you can get the right
diameter nocks to fit the rods.  Definitely an interesting way to do
it!

Check out Cabellas online store to see what nocks and shafts are
available, or one of your local archery stores.

--
Curt, WE7U.   APRS Client Comparisons: http://www.eskimo.com/~archer
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