I am mainly interested in DX'ing and also enjoy the DX-type contests. My favorite contests are the ARRL International DX Contests, the CQ World-Wide DX Contests and the Scandinavian Activity Contests. I prefer the CW contests but also enjoy the SSB contests, also.

I recently completed the construction and installation of a home-built copy of a Telrex 40M346 3-element 40 meter monoband antenna. The Telrex 40M346 was a yagi that used 3 full-size elements on a 46' (14 m) long boom. Below are some images of the construction of the antenna and the installation of it on top of a 130' (41 m) guyed Rohn 55G tower.

The above image was taken while the antenna was being assembled at the base of the tower. After the antenna was completely assembled, it remained at the base of the tower and the antenna was allowed to "temperature-cycle." I went out to the antenna on a couple of very cold mornings and re-tightened all of the connections, to make sure that the connections would not loosen up at a later date.

The antenna was lifted to the top of the tower in 3 "stages;" the first stage is shown in the above image, where the antenna was raised to just above the 2nd (middle) set of guy wires, which were at the 85' (25.9 meters) above the ground. The antenna was then securely fastened to the side of the tower, where it remained for a week or so until the antenna was raised higher up the tower.

The above image shows the antenna, after it was lifted in the 2nd "stage;" just above the top set of guy wires - about 125 feet (38.1 meters) above the ground. The antenna was again securely fastened to the side of the tower, where it rested until it was lifted to the mast above the top plate of the tower, which was a few days later.

I used a hand-operated worm gear winch to lift the antenna from its resting place above the top set of guy wires to the antenna mast. The above image shows the antenna fastened to the mast - about 131 feet (40 meters) above the ground.

The contesting club that I belong to - The Society of Mid-West contesters - included a nice write-up of the construction and installation of my 40 meter yagi in one of their newsletters. The name of the article in the newsletter is "How To Get On 40 In 10 Yrs" and can be found at the following link:

http://w9smc.com/blackhole/news%2009%2009.pdf

I have an additional guyed Rohn 55G tower, which is 76' (23 meters) high. At the top of the tower is a HyGain 204BA, which is a 4-element 20 meter monoband yagi. About 5-1/2 feet (1.6 meters) above it is a CushCraft A3-WS, which is a 3-element yagi for 12 & 17 meters. Mounted 5-1/2 feet (1.6 meters) above the A3-WS is a home-built copy of a KLM 30M-3, which was KLM's 3-element 30 meter monoband yagi antenna.

I built the KLM 30M-3 copy, using KLM 40 meter monoband yagi parts and copied the original design exactly.  I also have full-size delta loops for 80 and 160 meters, the apex of each of those being supported by the 130' (40 meter) tower. For receiving on 80 & 160 meters, I have three reversible 2-wire Beverage antennas. Each are approximately 600 feet (182 meters) long and are oriented northeast / southwest, east / west and north-northwest / south- southwest in direction.