To learn electronics in a very different and effective way, and gain access to Mr Carlson's personal designs and inventions, visit the Mr Carlson's Lab Patreon page here: www.patreon.com/MrCarlsonsLab
When you say "New Lab" do you mean the "Old timey" Lab? Or is this a brand new lab separate from the main house for the first time? Are the othe r two labs in the basement of the main house or something? Curious how it all fits! :-)
@@MrCarlsonsLab cool! Is the idea to have your lab right in your backyard for the first time? I have always dreamed of building a home recording studio in a building like that on my property. :-) Best of luck to you. Love watching your videos, have learned how not to blow up my own old gear, how to avoid things that could kill me inside electronics and a much better appreciation for tube era equipment and how fascinating and capable and resilient they are always look forward to your newest video, can't wait for the next installments of this series!
That trick you used to weld the 2 different diameter conduits was brilliant. I’ll never forget that. Even if I will probably never use it. Love simple solutions like that. They’re often the smartest ones.
As usual, the one thing everyone takes for granted in erecting antennas is having the space to put them up. I can only dream of having a yard that big. Paul, though I'll be watching this series with interest, if you would, please design your next SW antenna to fit on a balcony as that's the only "backyard" I have.
My dad worked for Western Electric and in the early 1950s he had someone from the tel co come and install telephone poles in his back yard for his shortwave setup. This vid reminds me of that story.
I have 80 acres here with NO background noise on HF at all, so quiet, you'd argue my receiver was dead!!! Been inactive for many years but thinking of getting my old R5 hoisted up and dusting the MP1000 off and doing some DXing on 10, 15 or 20 meters. My seven element triband Yagi needs a lot of maintenance, new plastic insulators, new trap covers etc. I can't decided yet where to "grow" the tower or high to go, 40 or 50 plus feet. Yes I know, the higher the more efficient the Yagi will be. My call is KM6MB and John is the name, look forward one day to having a ragchew Mr Carlson. Followed many of your videos including the MP1000 one!! Mine was the first one sold in California when they were first released on the market, It's worked many countries, at that time we had a great solar cycle!!
I cannot forget the strange look I got from a lady at a cashier at a construction material shop when me and buddy at age 13 on bicycles bought a 10ft scaffolding pipe for my antenna.
I remember the neabors saying they thought me and a budy had lost our minds as kids ..up on a second story tin roof with 3' snow putting up a ant at about 2:00 n the morning...
All us radio nuts must the same kind of story. Mine was a 25 foot telephone pole when I was 15. The wire ran all the way from my bedroom to the bottom of our garden, then over a narrow Access road to the back of our garage. To me it was a thing of great beauty, but I didn't take into account the garbage truck that called every Wednesday. It took the whole lot out. The pole was dragging behind it for about half a mile!
Yeah I had telephone wire for my antenna I ran the wire out the bedroom window to the center clothesline pipe to the one end and went back to the other pipe on the left from the window looking out the window. I didn't know you could feed from any part of the long wire antenna. My radio was an American 5 tube radio by Admiral. Good thing I never touched the antenna wire I may have got a shock. You cannot or should not put a ground on those radios. The one side connected to the chassis or buss in my case. The radio was cased in a plastic box. The chassis part was a bakelite circuit board. I also made the radio pick up shortwave by tuning the rf and if coils. No standard broadcast radio was safe around me. I picked up wwv and Spanish SW stations.
@Nemesis Rain Ha ha I love your way of putting things . but I do have a long wire running down the garden from a tree at the bottom to the house .about 25ft high and 80feet long .that runs down to the shack (shed) lol it's ok for dx I use mr C's rf amp works a treat .stay safe my friend kind regards from over the pond
@Nemesis Rain in Florida you can plant four tall palm trees and make a rhombic antenna. The birds will love it and don't forget to put bird feeders at every tree. Only build this antenna if you have 100 feet between all palm trees. Not for small yards or HOA's.
Love watching your videos! Ex-Radar engineer from the Air Force. We used to use 2" pipe and have a local muffler shop heat and expand one end of the pipe about a foot long so it would receive another 2" pipe. Then we'd stick weld them together. That way you never lost the strength of the pipe by reducing the size. Still do that trick today on some things.
Ahh, my favorite part of the amateur radio hobby - a clever configuration of a few hundred feet of telephone "C" wire up in the trees connected to my old Sunair transceiver and I can work the world!
In addition to the health hazards, it also makes for a very porous weld bead. At least with solid wire and C25 shielding gas, the welds come out porous. I'm not sure about flux core though.
Paul, my man. I'm a carpenter by trade, and a musician and music teacher on the side. I'm binging your "tech tips Tuesdays " Playlist. I caught one of BigClive's vids about re-destilling some different boozes, next thing ya know I'm watching him "take things to bits" and before ya know it I'm watching you rebuild everything. I gotta tell ya brother, I'm beyond fascinated in your teaching style. You really know how to make something that seems complicated, become easy to grasp 👊. When you called a diode "a check valve " i immediately understood the concept. 2 weeks later I'm opening up the back of my 5string bass and recognizing almost every component I see. Still not sure what they are doing on the whole, but know what each part is doing individually. I just wanted to thank you for the continued sharing of your knowledge. It's freaking fascinating. 👍🤙
One thing to note for anyone that might build one of these at home... if the conduit you use is galvanized, you should either remove the zinc coating from any areas that will be welded, or, at a minimum, perform the welding in a very well ventilated area and with proper respiration/filtration. The Zinc Oxide fumes that are released when welding galvanized steel can cause some pretty nasty side effects. If you start to experience headaches/tiredness or other flu-like symptoms, stop and get some fresh air. If bad enough, the fumes can kill you. Galvanized pipe can be welded safely though if the proper precautions for ventilation/filtration/etc are followed though.
That's a novel approach to keep the mast stable in bad weather I would've naively just butt welded sections together, likely snapping in the first bad storm. This was a nice change of pace from the regular repairs! :)
Next time use rigid aluminum conduit, it comes threaded on both ends and has a coupling on one end. You can get a threaded reducing bushing to downsize. Thick enough to drill in to and tap for a grounding lug too.
@gottspeed: Carlson’s technique gets strength from overlapping pipes and welding. This will be MUCH stronger than a threaded joint. And steel is stronger than alum. No comparison.
@@davecc0000 I work with these materials daily as an electrician, aluminum RMC is stronger than EMT any day of the week, and the threads would be fine for this application. You do you though.
@@gottspeed3914 threaded ends of pipe are the weak point, since the wall thickness is less after threading. that means nearly every single threaded pipe breakage will be at the threads, but sometimes a fitting will break or shatter, depending on material and type. the longer the pipe the more leverage and easier shearing action at the joints. overlapped welded joint will always be stronger, even overlapped and cross drilled with bolts. alternate way same diameter pipe, with tight fitting solid or tube steel inserted and centered inside, then pre drill/slot the outer tubing and plug/slot weld the inner tubing/
Good that you have accommodating co-residents, neighbors, home associations, etc., it appears. I have been happy that as time goes on, the most commonly needed antennae have had less of an effect on the landscape. C.F. Dishy McFlatface or the like.
4:10 Let me Play you the SONG of My PEOPLE LOL! Every time I watch, there is always something new! What really impresses me is that Mr. Carlson is not just a one trick Pony. He has videos on his cars, and so much more. In a few years, when I finally get ready to build my own Tube Amplifier, his projects on Patreon will be a mandatory for me. I'm no Bob Carver, but I sure like the fact that you can Build things if great time is taken, and with help of some great testing tools and advice. You can do it. I'm never going to be an E.E. But that's not the point. The education you are getting here is IMO, better then what I could get going to a college these days. No requirements to learn something that really has no basis in your goals to understand circuits you are wanting to learn on how to best work with them or in my case? *Troubleshoot* His videos have made me a better Low Voltage Tech. as many of the skills I use daily relate to some of the content he has made Available. His method reminds me of my History Teacher in Highschool. Coach Mac. Learn for the sake of learning. I can't say enough good things about just learning how things work. It really made me start to really appreciate the engineering that goes into audiophile grade items. And what to look for and spend my hard earned money on. on top of that? His videos are a JOY to watch. Being a person that is very critical of Sound Quality? Even in this video, there is no typical Microphone overloading that you hear so often from other creators. Its all top notch aft to stern.
I built a 92' high vertical antenna by flying a drone with a piece of cord to pull a copper wire up over the highest bow of an oak tree with insulators of course. The antenna performs phenomenally well much better than my horizontal and is almost totally immune to man made noise. Because of the polarisation being vertical and most men made noise being horizontally polarised.
You have the perfect yard for a long wire. Beautiful place! Can't wait for part 2. I have a Kenwood R1000 I need to put an antenna up for. Just didn't know the best way to achieve this. Your videos will help me tremendously. Thank you, Paul. Love your channel!
Can't wait for the rest - I strung a 200 ft. copper antenna off a mast on the roof and anchored either side of the house. Worked very well as I remember. Definitely seat of the pants engineering :)
So looking forward. You just might end the age old antenna debate that has existed since the dawn of time. "Is there the perfect antenna". Plus the theory behind the design is sure to be compelling. I appreciate you.
@@MrCarlsonsLabI've had some fun over the centuries, playing around with wires- in hopes of at least peaking my location to the thousands of stations that used to populate the bands You're such a Swede. Mange tusen takk
If you had drilled 2 holes trough the 2 inch pipe around 6-8 inch down from the weld you did then you could have welded it with 4 spots there to the 1.5 inch pipe to keep it more stable than the tape does. Back in the early 90's we did use this technique in the welding factory we had when welding rods inside pipes. Depending on the wind and future snow and ice hanging on your antenna wires it might hold up what you did there too, time will tell :) Nice welds by the way, looks good, looks like we did it.
Just so you know, there's another way to join pipes. What I've successfully done is overlap the two sections by maybe a foot or so, and add a third piece of pipe of similar size to form a triangle cross section. Fat dowel or wood closet rods would also work. Then I measure the circumference to buy the appropriate diameter stainless hose clamps. I use 4 in total hose clamps. Two for the top of the triangle, and two for the bottom. You can use fewer clamps, or more according to your own judgement. Anyway, tighten all the clamps enough so all seems solid and won't loosen. I have had zero issues with strength aside from not using large enough diameter pipe for wind load. That's not an issue with the joints though. The clamps never seem to loosen either, but you can still take precautions if you want to. RTV works very well as a thread locker, yet isn't very hard to break loose when needed. It's an old recommendation I read one time about protecting shock absorber threads from rusting on cars.
For receiving purposes, noise reduction is far more important than efficiency, especially if you are going to build a preamp to go with it. Hence if I were you, I would prefer a smaller loop antenna in the quietest spot on your property. But (almost) nothing is more fun than building antennas!
Very good job. I use gorilla tape but just a little. I take my pipe to a muffler shop or a machine shop and have them swedge the largest pipe to fit the size of the smaller one and so on. But I really love all your videos and this one on this dy pole is great
I did something similar only I used 1/4-20 hardware. I welded 2 rows of 6 nuts spaced 60° apart around the periphery, and each row 10" apart along the length, to each size conduit beginning with the 2" EMT. Then drilled through the nut and chased the thread with a tap. This made for a telescopic arrangement. I then drove a length of 1" cold rolled round into the ground and set this telescopic arrangement over top of it. With pre-cut down guides attached I went up a 12 foot step ladder and extended each section and locked it in place. Repeated for each section until the whole thing was extended. Spent about twice the time planning as I building. One 10ft length of each: 2" EMT, 1-1/2" EMT, 1-1/4" EMT, 1" rigid. About 36' high...
Hmm, a man of many skills. I also weld as well as do electronic and computer projects. Have even restored a couple of classic cars. A Jaguar E-Type OTS as well as a Datsun 240Z and a Datsun 260Z. Now into renewables and EV's as well as teaching some Windows and Linux based classes at the local community college. Great job Paul, will stay tuned.
As an Amateur Radio operator I thought you might be putting up an antenna to get back on the air when I saw the title. :-) Great video! I look forward to part 2.
Hi Paul, can you tell us a bit more about this new lab.......did you get kicked out of the house ? did you move to a new location ? , looks like a nice property, a tour would be awesome......I always wondered what your place looked like.
That's going to be a long antenna! Should get plenty of signal from the next state over. ;) I bought a 9 x 12' Rca "Digital tv" antenna a couple years back because it was dirt cheap, $25 (they aren't made anymore as far as I'm aware of) It's just a re-marketed Realistic UHF/FM antenna based on the same decades old design. One of these days I'll have to get it set up now that I've acquired a portable communications receiver.
You live in a great place! Hopefully there is a minimum of noise. A very solid approach to mast assembly. So I'm very lazy, I would just throw a wire on the tallest pine nearby)
Hello Mr C I have some urgent info for you when you weld Emt tubing you will want to sand off the coating of the Zinc 1 inch clean from where the weld is going your weld will come out 400 percent cleaner an you weld will be 200 percent stronger., + the Zing burning that is called out gassing will not Acura + you will not put poison gas in to your lungs. From the desk of Jarm.
True... fumes from welding galvanized metal can make you pretty damn sick. Welders at work have told me they had to drink a lot of (milk?) to treat this condition.
love your videos to slide the pipes in with no clearance i use a piece of pvc cut the length expand it around the small pipe works a treat , weld the gal pipe with stainless electrode no rust.
Ahhhh! I know what you are doing!!!! You are preparing for the winter snow season so that you can harvest some of that mysterious energy that you encountered last time on your workbench! We don't get snow here in Melbourne Australia! I would love to make an antenna out of a coil of copper wire in a loop so that the snow fall through it, one end tied to an insulated ground spike with only it's tip exposed so that you get a higher voltage potential difference between the antenna and ground spike tip! A switching circuit to pulse the energy to ground and a capacitor bank that gets charged via a diode which the negative of the capacitor is also connected to ground to complete the circuit! Such a pity that we don't get snow here, I would love to try it. This kinda reminds me of the falling water experiment that was done by (if I have correctly spelt his name) Victor Shouberger, there are a few videos here on RU-vid that shows how it works, really fascinating stuff! I have always wanted you to follow up on that anomaly that you experienced! Who knows? Maybe one day that video will come!
A most excellent and informative video! I feel inspired to get my hands dirty on building my own antenna now for my Icom R75 and other receivers I am currently using. Thank you for your knowledge and your ability to communicate it so well. 73's...Phil
Yes, and along side the antenna wire You can put a rubber hose filled with mercury, connected to transmitter via that 5kW RS station module in Your old Lab. Than You can put a poster in the local perish :"If You can receive Jazz Music using any Home Appliance like microwave oven, toot brush, vacuum cleaner, pacemaker, aquarium air pomp, or even clothes hanger attached to the dentures, then please PM me {appropriate e-mail address or phone} ." The oatmeal milk left in a bowl on the railing of the neighbour's porch behind the hedge is cooked within 3 hours tops :) Grate video, thank You, have great day !
Hi Paul, Interesting use of EMT tubing and of Gorilla tape as a bushing. Have you thought of using a fiberglass pole as the last section to keep any metal away from the antenna wire? You and the family stay safe. 73 WJ3U
Although EMT is certainly an good economical choice for mast material, one needs to be aware that is it made (metallurgically speaking) to be bendable (same with rigid conduit for that matter) and is really not the best (although usable) choice for a mast. I agree with some of the other comments that suggest using fence top-rail. I enjoy your videos, always learning something new.
For receive only I use a 3' diameter active loop antenna constructed from 1/2" soft copper and PVC electrical boxes. A low noise current amplifier is mounted at the antenna and fed with CAT-5 Ethernet cable. It covers VLF to above 30 MHz with excellent results. I have it on a rotor so I can find the maximum signal/ lowest noise for a given station. It works really well for nulllng out broadcast stations that occupy the same frequency for long distance night reception. A VLF or even BCB dipole at this location is out of the question.
That looks like fun to me. I was thinking of using the tape as a bushing. You made the fit a lot tighter than I would have, and I see why. Looking forward to this project.
Guys, zinc isn't that bad. I mean zinc is in your vitamins. Yes you can get zinc fume fever but it won't kill you, and you need to be exposed to a lot more than what you'll get with one quick pass of the MIG. Anyway I was going to say you can buy 10' sections of fencing top rail that are great for antenna masts. One end is tapered so you can slide another section over it and it fits nice and snug, don't even need to weld. You could throw a U bolt clamp on if you were really worried.
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