Quad Antenna Spreader

thingiverse

**This versatile Quad antenna spreader can be used as a starting point for various antenna designs, including those for 6m, 2m, 70cm, and more. I wouldn't recommend using it for HF antenna design due to its relatively fragile construction.** With this in mind, you **may** still use it on 10m, but proceed with caution. I'm excited about building and experimenting with new antennas. Six meter E Skip season is here, so I decided to design a quad. This spreader was designed around the readily available 1.5" fiberglass boom material that I already had at home. You might not have this on hand, so I'll provide a list of needed items and links to purchase everything online. First, I used the website below to determine measurements and materials required for the project. http://calc.n6ach.com/quad.html Here's the BOM: 1.5" square fiberglass boom (length determined by the number of elements) https://mgs4u.com/telescoping-fiberglass-tube-and-rod-price-list-2/ 3/8" x 48" fiberglass electrical fence rods, found at Tractor Supply Company or Amazon These will be used as the spreaders. 1 - 4" lag bolt with nut This is a work in progress! **UPDATE** Hopefully, v5 is the final version. It's currently printing. I test-fit the bolt on v4 and it was too short, so I made some adjustments there. Also, test-fitted the spreader to the boom and noticed it was a little too loose for my liking, so I made some adjustments to provide a more snug fit. In doing so, the print time is now around 5 hours or so at 10% infill. Even with 10% infill, the spreader is quite strong. Oh, and the last version I printed without supports came out better than the previous ones I printed with supports. **NO SUPPORTS REQUIRED!** With my latest print, I used Quad spreader v5.stl (which is half of the full spreader) four times and was able to carefully arrange them on the build plate so that with one print I would have enough to make two spreaders. It really only saves time if you know you'll be away from your printer for 8-9 hours. Otherwise, I'd print them one at a time. The alignment tool is meant to help with drilling holes in the 1.5" square boom. Measure and mark where the spreaders need to be placed on the boom with a carpenter's square. Slip the tool over the boom and line up the arrows on the line you marked. Drill a 1/4" hole. Flip the boom over and do the same thing on the other side.