‰  NOW 35 WPM  ‰  TEXT IS FROM SEPTEMBER 2012 QST  PAGE 49‰

FIRST IMPRESSIONS AND ASSEMBLY AS WITH OTHER PRODUCTS IVE PURCHASED FROM
N6BT OVER THE YEARS, THE MECHANICAL PORTION OF THE ANTENNA IS ROBUST AND
WELL BUILT.  HOLES THAT WERE SUPPOSED TO LINE UP DID SO.  U BOLTS AND OTHER
HARDWARE WERE HIGH QUALITY.  WELDS HAD NO GAPS OR BLOBS.  FIGURE 5 SHOWS
THE PARTS READY FOR ASSEMBLY RIGHT OUT OF THE BOX.  THE ELECTRICAL RELAY
ASSEMBLIES APPEARED TO BE SOLDERED WELL AND THE COILS WERE MADE FROM HEAVY
DUTY WIRE.  FOLLOWING THE INSTRUCTIONS IS IMPORTANT BUT NOT DIFFICULT.  I
WOULD LIKE TO SEE THE PHOTOS AND DRAWINGS INTEGRATED WITH THE ASSEMBLY
CHECKLIST, THOUGH.  TOTAL ASSEMBLY TIME WAS A LITTLE OVER AN HOUR FROM
OPENING THE BOX.  ONE THING I DEFINITELY LIKED WAS THAT THE SWITCHING
ENCLOSURES AND ELEMENT CENTER ASSEMBLIES CAME ALREADY MOUNTED ON THE BOOM.
THIS SAVED A LOT OF TIME AND PROBABLY ELIMINATES NUMEROUS OPPORTUNITIES FOR
ASSEMBLY ERRORS.  ALL I HAD TO DO WAS BOLT THE BOOM TOGETHER, TELESCOPE AND
MOUNT THE TAPERED ELEMENT SECTIONS, AND ATTACH THE CONTROL AND COAXIAL
CABLES.  THIS ANTENNA WOULD BE SIMPLE TO DEPLOY IN THE FIELD.  ONCE I
STARTED THE ASSEMBLY AND TUNING PROCESS, I FOUND SEVERAL NITS THAT ARE
TYPICAL OF NEW PRODUCTS.  IVE GIVEN N6BT A COMPLETE LIST OF THE THINGS I
NOTICED FOR FUTURE MANUAL REVISIONS.  FOR EXAMPLE, THE LIST OF NEEDED TOOLS
IS MISSING A COUPLE OF ITEMS AND SOME ADDITIONAL TEXT OR A DRAWING IS
‰  END OF 35 WPM TEXT  ‰  QST DE W1AW  ƒ