During a field activation I noticed that my 10m 5/8L Vertical occasionally performed poorly.
I soon discovered that a solder contact had broken loose. Probably due to transport.
With some trickery I was able to temporarily solve this problem.
When I got home I soon discovered that there was more going on.
The center pin of the PL connector no longer had contact at the junction of the 2 windings.
This was a really bad point to fail as it came loose inside the plastic holder.
There was no other option than to make a holder yourself.
Since I now have a lot of experience with drawing and 3D printing rigid objects, this method was the most obvious choice.
I quickly made a CAD drawing of the holder including the threading of the copper wire to be wound.
I just had to find a method to get the M4 threaded rod out of the holder.
I used a brass M4 nut and soldered a piece of 3mm copper wire to it.
The center pin of the PL connector was screwed to the holder with M4 thread, this thread runs through the holder to the junction of the 2 coils.
I also used the same method in my drawing.
I have drawn the holder almost 1:1, also with the exact dimensions and spacing of the windings of the coils.
In the drawing I have made a slot in the holder where the nut with copper wire can be slid.
This ends exactly in the heart of the holder.
This way I can easily screw in the M4 threaded rod.
I also made 2 new pieces of copper strip and pressed them back onto the new holder together with the 2 brass bushings.
I printed the holder horizontally. This is to maximize the forces exerted on the antenna and printed holder over the vertical length of the holder.
Rewound the coils and done!
