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Array Solutions    -    SAL12/20/30 - Mark II Manual – Rev. 1.5.1 – September, 2018                                   

 

 

Model AS-SAL-12/20/30 - Mark II 

8 Direction Receiving Loops Antenna System 

Manufactured and marketed under United States Patent No. 8,350,776 and additional patent pending. 

 

 

Introduction 

The Array Solutions Shared Apex Loop™  Array (

AS-SAL-12  Mark II

AS-SAL-20 

Mark II, and AS-SAL-30  –  Mark II) 

is  an improved version of the  new type of 

receiving antenna that delivers exceptional directivity in a compact  package and is 
useable over a wide range of frequencies without need for adjustment. This array opens 
the door to a new class of compact, high performance, wideband receiving antennas 
developed for both amateur and professional users. 
 
In 2009, 

Mark Bauman (KB7GF)

 developed a working model of the array to improve 

his listening experience in a suburban neighborhood  in southeast Washington State.  
From testing, he found that the array provided exceptional bandwidth in a compact size 

Array Solutions 

 

2611 North Belt Line Road 

Suite # 109 

Sunnyvale, TX 75182 USA 

TEL 214-954-7140 

FAX 214-954-7142 

E-MAIL [email protected] 

Summary of Contents for AS-SAL-12 Mark II

Page 1: ...directivity in a compact package and is useable over a wide range of frequencies without need for adjustment This array opens the door to a new class of compact high performance wideband receiving antennas developed for both amateur and professional users In 2009 Mark Bauman KB7GF developed a working model of the array to improve his listening experience in a suburban neighborhood in southeast Was...

Page 2: ...onics at a single position at the base of the array Next testing commenced on two orthogonal pairs of loops and switching circuits were developed to provide electronic rotation of the pattern This testing showed that eight individual directions could be obtained using the four loops These switching circuits included a multiplexing scheme where the switching commands and power were sent on the same...

Page 3: ...r to the northwest The direction and directional mode of the array is commanded by a controller that connects directly to your receiver The controller has buttons for changing the direction flipping to the opposite direction and selecting the directional mode The directional modes include a Single or UNI directional mode as well as a dual or BI directional mode Visual indicators show the currently...

Page 4: ...AL 20 Mark II should provide a directional pattern up to 14 MHz and the AS SAL 30 Mark II up to 7 MHz The Shared Apex Loop design provides the following benefits Competitive Front to Back Side rejection in eight directions especially on low angle vertically polarized signals and local interference Compact footprint that is ideal for small yards Easy setup for tactical applications Wideband operati...

Page 5: ...luminum tubing 1 Insert coupling 1 3 8 x 3 1 2 34 9 mm x 88 9mm aluminum tubing 1 Insert coupling 1 1 4 x 7 31 75 mm x 182 mm fiberglass insulator 8 Solder eye lugs for 1 4 bolts 4 29 10 36 m cables for loops 4 Anchoring Stakes 40 ft of rope to cut as follow s 4 x 10 ft 3 05 m guying ropes 2 Hose clamps 2 1 PVC Mast base with 4 pipe inserted 4 Couplers with 7 ft 2 13 m 120 ohm TX lines attached to...

Page 6: ...ing 1 3 8 x 3 1 2 34 9 mm x 88 9 mm aluminum tubing 1 Insert coupling 1 1 4 x 7 31 75 mm x 182 mm fiberglass insulator 8 Solder eye lugs for 1 4 bolts attached to cable loops 4 44 10 36 m cables for loops with TX line coupler and solder lug 4 Anchoring Stakes 40 ft of rope to cut as follows 4 x 10 ft 3 05 m guying ropes 2 Hose clamps 2 1 PVC Mast base with 4 pipe inserted 4 Couplers with 10 ft 3 0...

Page 7: ...9mm aluminum tubing 1 Insert coupling 1 1 4 x 7 31 75 mm x 182 mm fiberglass insulator 8 Solder eye lugs for 1 4 bolts already attached to the loops 4 65 19 81 m cables for loops with TX line coupler solder lugs attached 8 Anchoring Stakes 180 ft of rope to cut as follows 4 10 ft 3 05 m guying ropes for outer stakes 4 35 ft 10 67 m guying ropes for inner stakes 2 Hose clamps 2 1 PVC Mast base with...

Page 8: ...ay cause serious injury or death Site Selection The Shared Apex Loop array works by summing signals from oppositely positioned and phased loops For proper operation it is essential that each loop in each loop pair have identical signal response Factors that can impact the signal response include Size of the Loop Shape of the Loop Orientation of the Loop Distance of the Loop to the Ground Distance ...

Page 9: ...ncy As an example of an AS SAL 12 Mark II that has good directivity from 300 kHz to 28 MHz it is located with the edge of the array located 50 feet 15 24 m from a house 90 feet 27 43 m from overhead power lines 30 feet 9 14 m from ground mounted 36 foot 10 97 m vertical with ground radials close to the edge of the array 10 feet 3 05 m from metal clothesline and has an 8 foot 2 43 m tall bush growi...

Page 10: ...hed at the apex top of the antenna Use rubber tape or other material like shrink tubing to protect the connection of the stainless steel lug with the copper of the 14 wire and the solder applied to it Crimped and soldered lug Solder lug and wire connection protected with shrink tubing Rubber tape can be used as well Before proceeding to install the solder lugs at the bottom ends of the wire sectio...

Page 11: ...4 loops The polarity of the loop couplers should be symmetrically oriented on all 4 loops NOTE If this is the black and white printout of the manual sent along with the antenna please refer to the manual with color pictures and drawings available on our webpage for clarity Detail of couplers connections and orientation For B W printouts note the wires marked red The other wires are black Positive ...

Page 12: ...order to avoid any damage to the inner red and black 22 insulated wires After passing the wire through the coupler the second solder lug can be installed Connecting the wire sections to the top of the mast Align the holes of the short insert of aluminum tubing that goes at the top of the top section of mast Insert one 3 16 bolt through the top end lug of one of the wires orienting the lug in a way...

Page 13: ...less steel and the aluminum Also cover the connections with rubber tape or any other material to protect them from the weather Connections at the bottom Depending on the antenna model and the number of persons involved on the installation you may decide to connect the bottom ends of the wire sections before or after assembling and erecting the mast Proceeding like with the antenna top connections ...

Page 14: ...Manual Rev 1 5 1 September 2018 14 Detail of bottom connections Assembling the Mast It is time to assembly the mast with the corresponding number of aluminum sections depending on your model Please refer to the drawing below Mast layouts ...

Page 15: ...he base section in order to accommodate the fiberglass insert that connects them The rest of sections use the 6 aluminum inserts except for the top section which uses the shorter aluminum insert and most be installed flush with the end of the top section After the first section above the base mast section the different models have the following number of 6 ft 1 83 m sections SAL 12 Mark II One sec...

Page 16: ...op of the base mast section Short one is 4 3 4 120 mm for the top section The rest are 7 1 8 182 mm long NOTE SHORT COUPLER MAY BE PREINSTALLED IN TOP SECTION Mast sections with its coupling inserts attached at their tops Note the two tie down D rings for guy ropes at the top of the fourth section SAL 30 Mark II only and the shortest ...

Page 17: ... Mark II Manual Rev 1 5 1 September 2018 17 insert to reinforce the tubing at the connection point at the antenna apex it is flush with the top section s end SAL 30 Mark II wire loop section and guy ropes layout Wires are in red ...

Page 18: ...Manual Rev 1 5 1 September 2018 18 SAL 20 Mark II wire loop section layout SAL 12 Mark II wire loop section layout View of the SAL 30 Mark II antenna The loops wires have been edited thicker for clarity The thin lines are the guying ropes ...

Page 19: ...e stake distance will need to be adjusted to properly tension the loops Loop installation o The loops should have a right angle triangle shape to it when finished The lower horizontal will have to have the loop couplers slid onto it The polarity should be the same on all the couplers All must be oriented so that the red wire or or positive that enters into the ferrites tube by one of its ends face...

Page 20: ...en moving the tensioner up or down the rope if more tension or less tension is needed correspondingly Outer corner of loop once you have the horizontal dimension set put tape tightly or use tie wraps to avoid the rope from slipping and changing the dimension of the horizontal side of each loop Triangle Tensioner The one shown in the picture when rotated counter clock wise will straighten the long ...

Page 21: ...p must be leveled and not sloping away or towards the flat ground o Measure and adjust the distance from the mast to the tether point so that this distance is the same for all of the loops Also adjust the tension on the tethers on each loop to minimize sag o Verify again that the mast is vertical Repeat previous step until all loops are the same size and shape and horizontal sections of loops are ...

Page 22: ...bottom of the switching unit Connect the red wire to the NW terminal and the black wire to the NW terminal o Verify that the balanced lines are connected to the appropriate terminals You should see a repeating pattern of wire colors i e red black red black red black red black o Note The array will NOT be directive if the balanced lines are not connected in the proper order o Reinstall the cover on...

Page 23: ... is a suggestion of what could be used to keep the couplers transmission lines away from themselves the RG 6 cables and from the metallic mast You can use wooden stakes or PVC pipes driven in the ground or any other non conductive material structure to find your own solution for the TX lines routing Transmission lines connections into the combiner terminals ...

Page 24: ...oop One trick is to use a small RF source like an antenna analyzer perhaps located 500 feet away or even up your tower at an angle of say 15 degrees to the SAL Array Then adjust the SAL for maximum F B ratio by moving the couplers positions six inches at the time When further optimization is needed move couplers in three inches steps Each coupler must be moved the same amount towards or away from ...

Page 25: ...raightness What is important is that the loops have the same perimeter and are installed as symmetrically as possible within reasonable practical limits regardless of their lengths as long as they are equal SAL 30 SAL 20 SAL 12 Length of Vertical wire section 356 904 cm 222 564cm 136 5 347cm Hor section Length 300 762 cm 210 534 cm 126 320 cm Total loop Length 1122 2849 cm 744 1890cm 456 1158 cm C...

Page 26: ...um reception You may also connect the chassis of the receiver to either the shield of the RCA connector or the RG 6 cable if this results in lower noise operation o NOTE ENSURE THAT THE CONTROLLER IS ONLY CONNECTED TO A RECEIVER AND THAT NO TRANSMITTED RF CAN ENTER THROUGH THE RCA CONNECTOR FAILURE TO DO THIS WILL RESULT TO DAMAGE OF THE CONTROLLER AND SWITCHING UNIT o NOTE IT IS THE RESPONSIBILIT...

Page 27: ... Press the BI button to select the BI directional mode 2 Press the direction change arrow so that the LED s point to both the northeast and southwest direction 3 Tune to an AM Broadcast station coming from either a northeast or southwest direction that has a steady signal 4 Observe the signal strength from the station Then press FLIP button while observing the signal strength Then press the FLIP b...

Page 28: ...what this difference should be Note that the difference is based on the frequency For example at 1000 KHz the difference for the AS SAL 20 should be 16dB and for the AS SAL 12 should be 22dB 7 Press the direction change arrow so that the LED s point to the northwest direction 8 Tune to an AM Broadcast station coming from a northwest direction 9 Observe the signal strength from the station 10 Now p...

Page 29: ...Array Solutions SAL12 20 30 Mark II Manual Rev 1 5 1 September 2018 29 ...

Page 30: ...Array Solutions SAL12 20 30 Mark II Manual Rev 1 5 1 September 2018 30 ...

Page 31: ... will do as well and the front to back can vary a great amount while this propagation conditions are changing OPERATION There are several buttons that you will easily use in operating your array 1 Yellow counter clockwise and clockwise buttons will electrically steer the array the LEDs will show the direction you are listening Eight directions are possible 2 FLIP white button will flip the directi...

Page 32: ...ources are vertically polarized and can be attenuated by pointing the antenna away from the source Ionospheric conditions can impact the apparent directivity when listening to sky wave signals Expect degraded directivity less front to back and front to side ratio during active and stormy geomagnetic field conditions If conducted shack noise is a problem try running a short wire from your receiver ...

Page 33: ...equency ranges to some extent with less gain or a different pattern Number of Directions Eight directions Direction control Through feed line coax no control lines RF connection antenna Type F RG 6 connectors at control box and outdoor relay box RF connection radio RCA connector output to receiver external antenna input Power requirements 12 15 V DC 1000 mA linear regulated RF quiet power supply p...

Page 34: ...Array Solutions SAL12 20 30 Mark II Manual Rev 1 5 1 September 2018 34 AS SAL 30 Example Elevation Response Patterns AS SAL 20 Example Elevation Response Patterns ...

Page 35: ...Array Solutions SAL12 20 30 Mark II Manual Rev 1 5 1 September 2018 35 AS SAL 12 Example Elevation Response Patterns ...

Page 36: ...t there are two solder lines in place on the lower left corner of the small daughter board between the center contacts and the HP High Pass contacts NF HP o o o o o o To bypass the filter remove the solder with a wick or a solder sucker use minimal heat Then solder jumpers or make a trace with the solder from the center contacts to the NF No Filter contacts HPF Bypassed NF HP o o o o o o ...

Page 37: ...response with no BCB High Pass Filter The plots have been padded down because of the preamplifier gain therefore add 40 dB to the numbers SAL antenna response with BCB High Pass Filter The plots have been padded down because of the preamplifier gain therefore add 40 dB to the numbers ...

Page 38: ...rk II Manual Rev 1 5 1 September 2018 38 Appendix 2a How to establish a perpendicular to a baseline You can use this surveyor s trick to establish the perpendicular lines where the loops of the SAL antenna are going to be positioned ...

Page 39: ...Array Solutions SAL12 20 30 Mark II Manual Rev 1 5 1 September 2018 39 Appendix 2B How to establish a perpendicular line from a baseline ...

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