Delta Loop Top Wire Strain Relief Mechanism
Here’s a nifty and very simple idea to use when constructing a Delta Loop. One weak area of a Delta Loop is where the top wires join the vertical tubes. The wire, once subjected to weather will [after time], break because of the continued movement in the wind.
The solution is to create a ‘Tie-Back‘ mechanism which effectively takes the strain off the top wire and transfers it to the top of the vertical tube. At Vortex we devised a strain-relief system using a duplex clamp and thimble which was held by a #12 ‘P’ clamp.
As a caveat, just remember to take into account the length of the top wire as the tie-back system effectively lengthens this wire.
We discuss in detail here on how to get your Delta Loop working correctly by checking the resonance of each loop with respect to the model. By isolating each loop individually, modelling it and then checking the resonance is the ONLY way to guarantee that you get your model working as expected.
If you just follow the EZNEC model dimensions from the wires data table and lengths you’ll have an antenna with poor forward gain that most likely is resonant at the wrong frequency and fires out the back-end and subsequently will have poor front-to-back ratio.
You can download our strain-relief PDF here to see how it’s made.
