I used standard steel wire. I have tried several different types from Miller to Lincoln electric to Chicago Electric. All work fine. Aluminum doesn't solder. You will need to add flux to the wire before soldering or the solder will not take. Stainless steel doesn't work very well either.

-Alex

Originally Posted by IBCrazy

... The cloverleaf has higher gain, but less reverse polarity rejection.
-Alex

In what direction is the gain increase (ie sacrificing vertical for horizontal, below horizon for above, is it more "lobed" directionality, etc)?

Higher horizontal gain. Vertical gain in the skew-planar wheel and Cloverleaf is identical.

-Alex

Alex. I also use the 'bob' system. What plug are you useing on the RX. This is the only one that I can find that fits. Is it OK to use. It is 75ohm.
Thanks.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2off-f-plug-sa...item4cf5289dde

I use an F male to SMA female adapter on the RX. This way I can use the SMA connector on my antennas.

-Alex

Originally Posted by Devonboy

Paul, I'm watchin ya

0.6mm MIG wire is quite strong, but 0.8mm would be better.
Downside of MIG wire is that the copper coating is very thin and over time, the steel wire below will rust and percolate through the copper - ever left your welder in a damp garage for a few weeks and then wonder why your weld is like seagull pooh and you need a new liner for the gun feed?

The best wire is the gold plated 'Memory Wire' used for making neck and wrist bracelets - I got mine in my local 'beads n bangles' shop - it's the one full of ladies giving you strange looks

Ever used one of these?
http://www.nevadaradio.co.uk/antenna...ts/comet-mcb-3
Drive a wheel over the base plate and drop an extending mast over the pole, voila, sturdy mast at 20 foot.
Made my own for operating on Amateur Radio VHF field days.

Nigel.

Cheers Nigel... depending on rollcage fabbing or VW restoration either my mig or tig will sit idle for weeks on end. If the mig is left anywhere damp I have an old t-shirt soaked in WD40 to stop the rust! And a natty little foam block that lives by the wire feed 'in' to take off rust and dust

Blooming expensive bit of metal that!! If you need another let me know. I bend tubes I do lol.

How on earth you managed to fab and solder a clover at 5.8 is well beyond me for the time being but I will be giving this a go in a couple of weeks having seen Alex's results. Alex I hope that Kempo (on the dosd thread) will give this a go. His results 4 miles out at 10m up are stunning as it is. He would be the ideal candidate to do long range testing for you!

Thanks again for everyones research and sharing

Paul

Alex, I just finished assembling your dual cloverleaf kits for 910mHz and, believe it or not, they actually work. If you had seen me struggling with the first one at 3:30 AM this morning, you would have had your doubts as did I. I'll give them a go tomorrow. Has anybody experimented with heights above ground for these?

Thanks,

Chris

Mount them as high in the air as possible. Of course they work well. They're an IBCrazy antenna

-Alex

Originally Posted by IBCrazy

Mount them as high in the air as possible. Of course they work well. They're an IBCrazy antenna

-Alex

Thanks, Alex. Will do.
Oh, no. I wasn't questioning the design. I know your designs are phenomenal. It was the ability of the guy who was putting it together I was concerned about.

Alex
I assume the Helix Cloverleaf should not be mounted on the pan and tilt tracker. It should be mounted on a static mount?

Mike

Originally Posted by tvedit

Alex
I assume the Helix Cloverleaf should not be mounted on the pan and tilt tracker. It should be mounted on a static mount?

Mike

No. The helix works great on a tracker. The circular polarization makes the tilt function work really well without loss of polarization.

-Alex

EXCELLENT! Much easier! Thanks Alex. Patiently waiting for my antennas. I'll give you a status report when I mount and try them out.

Thanks
Mike

Alex-

Could you check my angles? I had a hard time thinking in three dimensions but I think I figured it out except for possibly the actual values. I have an opportunity to re-bend things now that it is soldered. Are the angles that I've listed correct? The actual angles probably are not those yet.

pardon the ugly soldering. This was my learning one.

Any other tips for construction?

Thanks,

Tom

Hey Alex - I built a 5.8ghz cloverleaf about 2 weeks ago, but the elements have been conspiring to keep me from testing it.

I managed to get out today for a little bit, but the wind was pretty strong and my Fox is only about 200gm, so I was still held back by the wind quite a bit. I did manage about a mile (as per google earth), but the wind coming through the valley was too strong to go much further.

I only started to lose the video once and I think I was just starting to get too much altitude. The mountains in the area are ~750ft high and I was convincingly above them at that point. The video was solid as a rock otherwise.

Hardly exciting distances, but up until now Ive been using a 13mm wire, so its great to have a realistic antenna for this frequency.

Thanks for all the DIY assistance.

I dont have a picture to post right now, but Ill try and get one posted soon.

Originally Posted by BloomingtonFPV

Alex-

Could you check my angles? I had a hard time thinking in three dimensions but I think I figured it out except for possibly the actual values. I have an opportunity to re-bend things now that it is soldered. Are the angles that I've listed correct? The actual angles probably are not those yet.

pardon the ugly soldering. This was my learning one.

Any other tips for construction?

Thanks,

Tom

Your soldering is fine. The 60 degree angle should be between 45 and 50 degrees. The 120 degree angle should be around 110, but 120 is close enough.

-Alex