Amateur Radio

PVC Pipe 4 Element Quad for 6 Meters

I got to thinking about how I could build a larger quad cheaply (read, "out of PVC pipe"). I figured that,given practical considerations (light, unguyed mast, lots of trees, cost, etc.),four elements on about a 9' boom would be a practical maximum. Playing around with the dimensions indicated a practical antenna with decent gain and a fair beam width would result. Problem was,I kept running into difficulties trying to brainstorm how to connect the spreaders to the boom,and how to end up with a sufficiently rigid structure. Then I had an Ah ha! experience. If I doubled up the boom,then I could use standard tee and cross fittings,resulting in a light,strong ladder structure. The whole thing should only run about $25 or so at Home Depot for the pipe and wire.

Here's a rough sketch of how the antenna would be built; the boom is made up of double runs of 1/2" PVC pipe tied to junctions made of tee and cross fittings. The stubby vertical section in the center of the boom is the mast mounting point; pipe clamps or hose clamps secure the stubs to the mast.

I don't have my original notes with me,so dimensions and whatnot will have to wait. I did want to get the basic idea up for everyone's enjoyment.