DX Engineering DXE-160VA-1 Instructions Manual Download Page 1

Page: 1 / 52

160 Meter
Thunderbolt

Vertical
Antenna

DXE-160VA-1

DXE-160VA-1-INS Revision 2d

US Patent No. 8,130,168

[Wires and ropes were enhanced in this photograph so they would show up]

1200 Southeast Ave. - Tallmadge, OH 44278 USA

Phone: (800) 777-0703 ∙ Tech Support and International: (330) 572-3200

Fax: (330) 572-3279 ∙ E-mail:

[email protected]

Summary of Contents for DXE-160VA-1

Page 1: ...d US Patent No 8 130 168 Wires and ropes were enhanced in this photograph so they would show up DX Engineering 2019 1200 Southeast Ave Tallmadge OH 44278 USA Phone 800 777 0703 Tech Support and Intern...

Page 2: ...W 1 Manual Winch 15 General Information about Aluminum Tubing 18 Assembling the Vertical Sections 19 Mating the Vertical Elements to the Pivot Base Assembly 26 Base Series and Shunt Coil Assembly and...

Page 3: ...radiator is almost constant Typical shortened verticals for this band with smaller top hats have currents that vary along the length and end up producing much less signal strength This also works in t...

Page 4: ...er lines may appear to be insulated often these coverings are intended only to protect metal wires from weather conditions and may not protect you from electric shock Keep your distance Remember the 1...

Page 5: ...sembly 8 Capacity Hat assembly 9 Guying 10 Tuning Site Selection Select a mounting location clear from power lines structures and other antennas by a minimum of 65 feet 55 10 ft safety rule Consider o...

Page 6: ...he hole until the concrete is level with the ground around it Use a level on the mounting pipe as you fill the hole to be sure the mounting pipe is vertically straight Your location landscape and grou...

Page 7: ...antenna system Radial wires can be laid on the roots of the grass using DXE STPL Radial Wire Anchor Pins to hold them down Using enough staples will ensure the wires will not be snagged by mowers peop...

Page 8: ...ed 1 4 stainless steel hardware Bolt Star Washer Flat Washer Split Washer Nut connect the optional ground radial wires to the DXE RADP 3 Radial Plate as shown below Additional hardware kits are availa...

Page 9: ...e and Lower Antenna Assembly 1 Locate the heavy duty Extren insulated channel There are 12 holes drilled in the insulated channel The top of the insulated channel is identified by two holes located ve...

Page 10: ...ate to the top of the heavy duty insulated channel as shown below 4 Locate the stainless steel base side bottom hinge two 1 2 13 x 1 1 4 long stainless steel hex head bolts two pivot bushings four 1 2...

Page 11: ...s steel Pivot Base Winch Mount two stainless steel Pivot Base Plate Brackets four 3 8 16 x 1 1 4 long stainless steel hex bolts eight stainless steel 3 8 flat washers four stainless steel 3 8 split lo...

Page 12: ...x head nuts Loosely assemble one or two threads beyond the end of the hex nuts the two V Bolts to the stainless steel Pivot Base Winch Mount as shown below The V Bolts will be tightened in a later ass...

Page 13: ...and associated hardware to the insulated mounting channel as shown above The U Bolts will be tightened in a later assembly step 10 Move the four V Bolts out as far as they will go these were put on lo...

Page 14: ...enna Bottom Element Section into the antenna base section through the upper and lower U Bolts Position the single feedpoint hole at the bottom facing outward as shown in the picture to the right The b...

Page 15: ...nuts Loosely assemble one or two threads beyond the end of the hex nuts the two U Bolts and associated hardware to the antenna hook mounting plate as shown below The U Bolts will be tightened in the n...

Page 16: ...drilled hole as shown below View showing the feedpoint hardware installed Mounting and using the Optional DXE VRW 1 Manual Winch 1 Follow the instructions included with the optional DXE VRW 1 Manual...

Page 17: ...push the winch inward toward the antenna elements allowing the three bolts to go into the three slots Tighten the hardware to hold the winch in place 6 Connect the Hook from the manual winch strap to...

Page 18: ...for pivoting 8 Turn the crank on the manual winch to lower or raise the antenna After raising the antenna completely make sure you replace the four bolts that were removed in step 3 The manual winch...

Page 19: ...you do not get accidentally cut The raised particles and shavings that appear when the aluminum tubing is machined are referred to as burrs and the process by which they are removed is known as debur...

Page 20: ...er of resonance to be moved down to the low band edge of 160 meters for dedicated CW ops It is suggested that the vertical elements be laid out in a line according to size on a flat surface for ease o...

Page 21: ...Stainless Steel Hex Head Bolt 12 1 4 Stainless Steel Flat Washer 6 1 4 Stainless Steel Nyloc Hex Nut 2 The diagram to the right is an overall layout of all the vertical elements with hardware for refe...

Page 22: ...e drilled differently When tightening the bolt and Nyloc nut tighten them enough to hold but not tight enough to deform the aluminum elements The following drilled sections are drilled to match the ne...

Page 23: ...72 long tubes 1 125 1 25 1 5 and 1 75 OD tubes and 12 on the 1 OD Tube Note the 1 5 OD tube has slits on both ends so it does not matter which end you mark 7 The five slit element tubes are installed...

Page 24: ...23 The reference drawing below shows the hardware used for joining the element tubes...

Page 25: ...1750 next to the joint between the 2 OD element tube and 1 75 OD element tube Tighten the clamp in place This third clamp ensures that the 1 75 section cannot slip further inside the 2 OD section 9 Lo...

Page 26: ...lace This third clamp ensures that the 1 25 section cannot slip further inside the 1 5 OD section 11 Locate the DXE ECL 1250 Stainless Steel Element Clamp and the 1 125 OD x 72 element tube that was m...

Page 27: ...the Pivot Base Winch Mount Plate You can now use the winch to pivot the antenna downward Four Bolts to be removed to allow for pivoting 2 Locate the 3 1 2 long 1 4 bolts four stainless steel flat wash...

Page 28: ...Be Lethal In areas where there is a high atmospheric static condition areas prone to precipitation or snow static this antenna as with all antennas will build up a static charge When working on the a...

Page 29: ...the hardware as shown Install the shunt coil with the L bracket to the radial plate on top of an existing radial wire bolt using the hardware as shown below The wire with terminals is connected from o...

Page 30: ...oil Mounting Hardware Installed and shown for reference Shunt Coil and Mounting Hardware For mounting to the optional Radial Plate Mounting the optional SecureMount Bulkhead Connector to the optional...

Page 31: ...om the top of the antenna in a four sided pyramid shape connected to four 24 foot 14 gauge wires at the base of the pyramid The bottom joints of the capacity hat the pyramid will then be guyed using t...

Page 32: ...e 39 feet in length Four wires are 24 feet in length Ring Terminals are installed on the ends of the wires 2 Gather the other parts required for the Capacity Hat assembly 3 If not already done insert...

Page 33: ...washer and a stainless steel hex nut as shown Aluminum spacers are pressed into the patented insulators as shown Note the positioning of the patented insulators look carefully for cupped area Prior t...

Page 34: ...33 Note the cupped area Insert the aluminum spacers Note the routing of the 39 foot wire ring terminal end through the insulator...

Page 35: ...at washer and Nyloc hex nut on the threaded rod and tighten in place The stack up of the hardware will allow the insulator to move slightly Also seat the wires in place in the insulators as shown belo...

Page 36: ...35 Completed Capacity Hat Assembly Note how the wires are routed...

Page 37: ...the 1 OD element tube at the top of the antenna Slide the completed capacity hat assembly into the 1 OD element tube to the 3 1 4 mark Tighten the DXE ECL 1000 clamp in place Do not over tighten whic...

Page 38: ...t wires coming from the Capacity Hat Assembly at the top of the antenna are joined with the horizontal 24 foot wires using four insulators and associated hardware 2 Install the capacity hat wires as s...

Page 39: ...x nuts join the 39 foot wires coming from the capacity hat assembly with the 24 foot wires together as shown below Note how the three wires are woven through the insulator in the following photographs...

Page 40: ...to the lower four insulators connecting the capacity hat wires together and go to the four optional earth anchors It is suggested that these ropes be anchored in the ground 55 feet away from the base...

Page 41: ...hors DXE EA15 4P Earth Anchors work very well for most installations and are available from DX Engineering Tie the loose ends of the four 46 foot ropes at four points 55 feet from the antenna See the...

Page 42: ...41 Overall side view showing the capacity hat and guy ropes...

Page 43: ...nalyzers such as the Rig Expert REU AA 54 or others of similar design may not be able to be used It will be necessary to use a normal HF rig with an SWR indicator We have used both methods and the res...

Page 44: ...shorting lead to short out more of the coil To lower the Resonant Frequency adjust the Series Coil shorting lead to short out less of the coil Adjust the Shunt Coil to achieve the lowest SWR This may...

Page 45: ...e top hat will allow wide excursions inside and slightly above and below the 160 meter band if desired DX Engineering will not be able to supply detailed instructions for this but basic antenna princi...

Page 46: ...Winch Mount 8 Pivot Base Plate Bracket 9 Pivot Base Lock Plate 10 Backing Plate Square 11 Saddle Spacer Plate 3 8 Thick 12 3 U Bolt 13 3 Cast Saddle 14 3 8 Flat Washer 15 3 8 Split Washer 16 3 8 16 He...

Page 47: ...l Carriage Bolt 16 1 4 Stainless Steel Flat Washer 2 1 2 13 x 1 1 4 Long Stainless Steel Hex Head Cap Screw 8 1 4 20 Stainless Steel Nyloc Hex Nut 4 1 2 x 1 1 4 Stainless Steel Washer 2 1 2 Stainless...

Page 48: ...nless steel DXE RADP 1HWK Radial Plate Wire Attachment Hardware Kit Stainless Steel Additional 20 Sets of ALL Stainless Steel Radial Hardware for use with the DX Engineering Stainless Steel Radial Pla...

Page 49: ...ng 65 degrees F 54 degrees C to 1800 degrees F 820 degrees C SS 30 Resistivity ohm CM x 108 5 This product is limited to domestic UPS Ground shipping only DXE T001 DX Engineering SO 239 Connector Inst...

Page 50: ...include 1 4 ring terminals professionally crimped on one end for quick and easy attachment to the radial plate This Radial Wire Kit is designed for users of vertical antenna systems which have the nee...

Page 51: ...CD screens provide graphic illustration of SWR impedance return loss and much more Easy to use measurement modes as well as additional features such as connection to a personal computer to plot Smith...

Page 52: ...allation damaged from severe weather including floods or abnormal environmental conditions such as prolonged exposure to corrosives or power surges or by the performance of repairs or alterations outs...

Search results

Summary of Contents for DXE-160VA-1

Reviews:

Brands by name

Popular brands

DX Engineering DXE-160VA-1, Instructions Manual

Search results

Summary of Contents for DXE-160VA-1

Reviews:

Brands by name

Popular brands