Quick And Dirty Azimuth, Semi-Elevation Antenna Bracket

I just made a quick bracket to use with a speaker tripod that I have to use with an ELK 2m/70cm Log Periodic antenna that I have for tracking Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites. This is a compromise but much easier on the elbow and arm compared to trying to hand hold the ELK while fiddling with an HT or two while trying to talk through one of the FM or SSB Amateur Radio Satellites.

By the way, if you leave the lower bolt in place and remove the upper bolt, you can drill a few more holes using the existing hole in the PVC pipe to guide the drill bit to make a hole in the board just above the hole I show or just below it to allow you to change the angle to more than 45-degrees or down to 0-degrees. Replace the nut on the upper bolt to a wing nut so that you can easly change the angle higher or lower to allow you to better match the maximum elevation range expected from a given satellite pass.

I'm certain that this method also would work well with the Arrow satellite antenna with slight modifications. It could also be used on a small TV rotor as a permanent antenna for OSCAR Satellites. I'd use a metal plate for that kind of installation, however.

A typical dual band five element beam aimed at the horizon will cover the 0-10 degree elevation orbits fairly well and adding this antenna will add coverage from 10-70 degrees elevation. However there would not be any polarization control using this scheme and the PVC based ELK structure would need to be replaced with fiberglass tubing to provide sufficient ruggedness for a permanent installation.