Shively Labs Versa2une SLV User manual

Circularly Polarized FM
Broadcast Antenna
Versa2une (SLV)
1 to 4-bay, full-wave-spaced
Instruction Manual
Installation, Operation, &
Maintenance

Congratulations! Thank you for purchasing one of the finest FM broadcast antennas on the
market today. The Shively Labs Versa2une is the top-of-the-line in its class for
its simplicity, superior performance and durability.
Your purchase is backed by the best technical support in the industry. Shively
is a leading manufacturer in the broadcast industry, providing an extensive
range of antennas, transmission line and components. Our technical staff has
a wealth of experience in the broadcast industry and is standing by to serve
you in any way.
This manual is intended to give you a good basic understanding of your
antenna: its proper and safe installation, startup, and operation, and trouble-
shooting and maintenance information to keep it working satisfactorily for
years to come.
Please have everyone involved with the antenna read this
manual carefully, and keep it handy for future reference.
Meanwhile, please feel free to contact your sales representative at Shively
Labs at any time if you need information or help. Call or write:
Publication No. im-SLV_1-4_fw (150915)

IMPORTANT
Please read this manual in its entirety before beginning
installation of your antenna!
Failure to follow the installation and operation
instructions in this manual could lead to failure of your
equipment and might even void your warranty!
This manual applies only to one- to four-bay SLV antennas
(SLV-1 to SLV-4) with full-wave bay spacing. For six- to
twelve-bay antennas (SLV-6 to SLV-12) or any size half-wave-
spaced versions, refer to the appropriate manual on our
Web site.

i
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Preparation........................................................................1
Check the shipment...............................................................................1
Torque specifications.............................................................................1
Table 1 Torque specifications..........................................................1
Check the parts.....................................................................................1
Prepare the mounting location. ..............................................................2
Figure 1 Tower layout, single-bay antenna.......................................2
Figure 2 Tower layout, two-bay antenna..........................................3
Figure 3 Tower layout, four-bay antenna..........................................4
High-band or low-band? ........................................................................5
Determine "A" dimension.......................................................................5
Figure 4 Low-band and high-band "A" dimension values....................5
Chapter 2 Arm Assembly....................................................................7
Assemble arms. ....................................................................................7
Figure 5 Arm assembly a................................................................. 7
Figure 6 Arm assembly b ................................................................7
Figure 7 Arm assembly c.................................................................7
Figure 8 Arm assembly d ................................................................7
Figure 9 Arm assembly e................................................................. 7
Figure 10 Arm assembly - complete.................................................8
Chapter 3 Bay Assembly (without radomes) .....................................9
Attach the arms to the radiator. .............................................................9
Figure 11 Arm hole selection........................................................... 9
Figure 12 Position first arms............................................................ 9
Figure 13 Channel attachment....................................................... 10
Figure 14 Vertical bolts................................................................. 10
Figure 15 Arm attachment - complete............................................ 11
Install the feedstrap............................................................................11
Figure 16 Remove wingnut ........................................................... 11
Figure 17 Feedstrap to endseal ..................................................... 12
Figure 18 Feedstrap to arms ......................................................... 12
Connect the coax cable........................................................................13
Figure 19 Form coax cable............................................................ 13
Figure 20 Attach coax cable to antenna input................................. 13
Figure 21 Finished antenna bay assembly ...................................... 14
Chapter 4 Bay Assembly (with radomes).........................................15
Attach the mount channels to the radome back half. .............................15
Figure 22 Mount channels and clamp halves to radome................... 15
Attach the arms to the radiator. ...........................................................16
Figure 23 Arm hole selection......................................................... 16
Figure 24 Position inner arms........................................................ 16
Figure 25 Radome, inner arms to radiator...................................... 17

ii
Table of Contents
Install the feedstrap............................................................................18
Figure 26 Remove wingnut ........................................................... 18
Figure 27 Feedstrap to endseal ..................................................... 18
Figure 28 Feedstrap to arms ......................................................... 19
Figure 29 Feedstrap ends bent down............................................. 19
Attach the coax cable.......................................................................... 20
Figure 30 Form coax cable............................................................ 20
Figure 31 Attach coax cable to antenna input................................. 20
Install the radome front half. ............................................................... 21
Figure 32 Radome front half installation......................................... 21
Figure 33 Seal around radome openings. ....................................... 21
Figure 34 Finished antenna bay assembly with radome, back view
..................................................................................... 22
Chapter 5 Mounting the Antenna Bay(s) .........................................23
Mount the antenna bay on the tower leg or pole. .................................. 23
Figure 35 Mount the antenna bay(s).............................................. 23
Figure 36 Mount the antenna bay(s) (with radomes)....................... 24
Figure 37 Adjust the heading. ....................................................... 24
Figure 38 Tighten mounting hardware. .......................................... 25
Chapter 6 Connecting the Antenna (single-bay)..............................27
Connect the coax feedline cable...........................................................27
Figure 39 Secure feedline cable..................................................... 27
Connect the transmission line cable......................................................28
Figure 40 Transmission line connection.......................................... 28
Chapter 7 Connecting the Antenna (2 or more bays) ......................29
Mount the power divider(s)..................................................................29
Figure 41 Power divider mounting (two-bay).................................. 29
Figure 42 Power divider mounting (four-bay) ................................. 30
Secure the coax feedline cables............................................................31
Figure 43 Secure the feedline cables.............................................. 31
Connect the transmission line cable......................................................32
Figure 44 Transmission line cable connection ................................. 32
Chapter 8 Startup.............................................................................33
Optimize VSWR................................................................................... 33
Figure 45 Apply the signal............................................................. 33
Adjust to minimize reflected power if necessary..................................... 33
Operate.............................................................................................. 33
Chapter 9 Troubleshooting...............................................................35
Broad Spectrum RF Noise ....................................................................35
High VSWR ........................................................................................35
Change in Coverage ...........................................................................35
(continued)

iii
Table of Contents
Chapter 10 Maintenance ..................................................................37
Log ...................................................................................................37
Inspection ......................................................................................... 37
Paint ................................................................................................. 37
Return Policy ..................................................................................... 37
Chapter 11 Parts ..............................................................................39
Parts list.............................................................................................39
Table 2 Parts List ........................................................................ 39
(continued)

1
Preparation
1Preparation
Check the shipment. As soon as you receive your antenna,
BEFORE signing for the shipment:
a. Check to be sure all the material has arrived.
b. Check for evident damage to any of the boxes.
c. If any boxes are missing, or if any are obviously damaged, describe the
problem in a WRITTEN note on the shipping papers BEFORE signing them.
Then call Shively right away, and we’ll do everything we can to correct the
situation.
Important!
Never store the antenna system outdoors, boxed or otherwise. Take
pains to keep the antenna components dry. You will need to purge mois-
ture from the interior of the antenna components before applying trans-
mitter power, and purging will be much more time-consuming if the
components get wet.
Torque specifications. NOTE
Use an anti-seize compound to minimize galling on stainless steel
threads.
Check the parts. Check to be sure all the parts shown in Table 2 on page 39 have arrived in
good condition.
NOTE
Item callouts are consistent across all the illustrations in this technical
sheet.
Table 1. Torque specifications
Hardware size Torque (dry) Torque (lubricated)
M5 stainless steel 3.75 lb-ft (0.52 kg-m) 3.4 lb-ft (0.47 kg-m)
M8 stainless 16 lb-in (2.2 kg-m) 14 lb-ft (1.9 kg-m)
M12 stainless 54 lb-ft (7.5 kg-m) 48 lb-ft (6.6 kg-m)
Antenna input fitting 18 - 22 lb-in (21 - 25 cm-kg) n/a

Preparation
2
Prepare the mounting
location.
Figure 1. Tower layout, single-
bay antenna
Remember!
It is YOUR responsibility to
ensure that your installa-
tion meets all applicable
codes and the centerline-
of-radiation requirements
of your FCC construction
permit.

3
Preparation
Figure 2. Tower layout, two-bay
antenna

Preparation
4
Figure 3. Tower layout, four-bay
antenna

5
Preparation
High-band or low-
band? 87.5 - 98 MHz = Low-band
98.1 - 108 MHz = High-band.
Determine "A"
dimension.
Figure 4. Low-band and high-
band "A" dimension values

7
Arm Assembly
2 Arm Assembly
Assemble arms. a. Screw the acorn nut (Figure 5, 1) onto the 230 mm threaded rod (2) as far
as it will go.
Figure 5. Arm assembly a
b. Screw a M12 hex nut (Figure 6, 3) tightly against the acorn nut.
Figure 6. Arm assembly b
c. Insert the threaded rod into the arm (Figure 7, 4or 5).
Figure 7. Arm assembly c
d. (Figure 8) Set the "A" dimension (from Figure 4) to a tolerance of ± 1/8"
(3 mm).
Figure 8. Arm assembly d
e. (Figure 9)Screw the hex nut against the square nut at the end of the arm to
secure the threaded rod and the "A" dimension.
Figure 9. Arm assembly e

Arm Assembly
8
f. (Figure 10) Repeat for the other 3 arms.
Figure 10. Arm assembly -
complete
g. Repeat for the other bays, if applicable.

9
Bay Assembly (without radomes)
3 Bay Assembly (without radomes)
Attach the arms to the
radiator. NOTE
This step may be made easier by clamping the radiator to a surface or
mounting it temporarily on a vertical pole.
a. (Figure 11) Identify the mounting holes to be used.
Figure 11. Arm hole selection
CAUTION
Parts 5, with the feedstrap mounting holes, must be mounted diagonally
across from each other as shown.
b. Position the first arms (Figure 12, 4and 5) on the radiator (6).
Figure 12. Position first arms

Bay Assembly (without radomes)
10
c. Attach the channel mount (Figure 13, 7) and arms, using M8 hardware (8,
9, 10, and 11), finger-tight only.
Figure 13. Channel attachment
CAUTION
To ensure proper arm alignment, always tighten the nuts on the vertical
bolts before tightening the horizontal ones.
d. Secure each arm with a vertical M8 bolt and hardware (Figure 14, 8, 9, 10,
and 11). Torque in accordance with Table 1 on page 1.
Figure 14. Vertical bolts
e. Tighten the nuts on the horizontal bolts. Torque in accordance with Table 1.
f. Repeat to attach the other two arms in their correct positions (Figure 15).

11
Bay Assembly (without radomes)
Figure 15. Arm attachment -
complete
Install the feedstrap. a. Remove the wingnut (Figure 16, 12), the top lockwasher, and the topmost
flat washer from the endseal (13). Leave the second flat washer in place.
Figure 16. Remove wingnut
b. Secure the feedstrap (Figure 17, 14) to the endseal.

Bay Assembly (without radomes)
12
Figure 17. Feedstrap to endseal
c. Using the M5 hardware (Figure 18, 15, 16, 17, and 18), secure the feedstrap
to the innermost holes in the arms.
Figure 18. Feedstrap to arms