4-Square Antenna: Today’s mission: get everything grounded, bolted, and ready before the big 4-Square tune-up!
I realised I’d tuned the array for best SWR, not for X = 0, so before I fix that – we need to sort the tower, coax, and winch area – all with proper grounding.
Tasks:
👉 Hammer in new copper rods and bond them to the mast and cabinet
👉 Mount the winch battery cabinet on C16 timbers
👉 Add a grounding plate and lugs for coax feeds
👉 Tidy the wiring for the new Multi-2 setup
👉 Talk about why my ACOM amp saga still isn’t over 😅
If you enjoy real-world ham-radio builds, with mistakes, fixes, and learning as we go — you’ll love this one.
Next video: the final 4-Square tuning and on-air test!
00:00 – Intro & The 4-Square Mistake
00:35 – Why X=0 Matters More Than SWR
01:00 – Grounding Before Tuning
02:20 – Cutting Timbers for the Winch Cabinet
03:40 – Mounting the Heavy Cabinet
05:20 – Planning the Dead-Man Anchor & Winch Setup
06:15 – Hammering in the Ground Rod
07:00 – ChatGPT Told Me to Do This?!
08:10 – Grinding & Prepping the Cabinet Backplate
09:00 – The AOM Amplifier Saga Continues
11:00 – Drilling, Tapping & Making Grounding Plates
13:00 – Connecting the Ground Straps
15:20 – Testing Tower Bonding & Rotator Ground
17:00 – Thinking About the Falling Derrick Design
18:40 – ‘Invisibleising’ the Tower (Grounding Strategy)
20:00 – Checking Every Connection
21:00 – Final Ground Tests – It’s All Bonded!
22:00 – Wrap-Up & Plans for the Next Tune-Up
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