[Hi-zreceivingarraydiscussions] My new HI-Z 4SQ

[Jeff]

Congratulations Lee and Dick on launching this reflector and a fine line of
off the shelf low band receiving antenna systems. In the past week I've
finally gotten around to installing the electronics part of my new Hi-Z 4SQ
system after spending the summer field testing different antenna mounts for
durability and survivability in the Michigan winds. The real test I suppose
will be the November ice storms and high winds.  I ended up using plain old
5' green metal fence posts pounded in the ground about 30". The remaining
30" held my 23' tapered vertical tubing (thanks to shed full of old and
broken antenna parts) antennas. The bottom section starts with 3/4" tubing
surrounded with 1" PVC tubing 24" long to insulate it from the metal fence
post. A couple of 2 1/2" stainless steel worm gear clamps hold it to the
post. It took me about 20 minutes of "Home Depot" engineering to figure out
how to best protect the preamps from the weather. That's when I found the
non-metallic conduit section of their electrical department and where I
discovered that these little preamps fit perfectly inside an LB made for 2"
non-metallic conduit. It had a 2" hole on the bottom to allow the RG6 in and
the moisture out, a 2" hole on the side to allow the ground and antenna
leads out and a removable cover that allowed me to install and easily remove
the preamp.  A little duct tape over the side hole to cover the antenna and
ground wires keeps the rain and snow out and the whole thing is held to the
fence post with a couple of long black ty-raps. Stick a little mirror
underneath the bottom hole and you can see the preamp's red LED to let you
know the power is getting to the preamp. The main signal combiner and delay
lines are held in a 12" by 15" by 8" non-metallic electrical enclosure in
the center of the array with a couple of 1" holes and bushings for the four
feed lines, the power and control lines and the output line.  I chose to cut
my delay lines for best F/B and man does it ever work. I can pick a
frequency in the top end of the broadcast band, look in four different
directions and listen to four different stations Q5. I left my homebrew K9AY
antenna up to do some A/B comparisons and so far I'm impressed. It is a lot
quieter than the K9AY in any given direction. Time will tell as the season
progresses and it will be nice to be able to check the difference between
the 4SQ and the K9AY. I hope some of this helps others who might still be
working on their systems. Good luck to all and CU in the pile ups!  73

Jeff Wheeler
w7jw at arrl.net