Valcom VBBA2-30 User guide

TECHNICAL MANUAL

VTM-98-006/I

OPERATION AND INSTALLATION

INSTRUCTIONS

HF BROADBAND ANTENNA

MODEL VBBA 2-30

Valcom Manufacturing Group, Inc

175 Southgate Drive, P.O.Box 603, Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1H 6L3 Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone]

Web Site: www.valcommfg.ca Email: [e-mail]

RECORD OF CHANGES

VTM-98-006/I

CHANGE NUMBER DATE TITLE OF BRIEF

DESCRIPTION

-- Jan 2001 - Original Issue H.D.

- Added additional cable and connector

- A - May 2002

- B - Sept 2002

- C - Nov 2003 - Added detail to Figure 4-1 J.S.

- D - Aug 2006

- E - Aug 2007 Added Maintenance Section J.Soper

- F- April 2009

information

- Fixed minor typing errors

- Deleted reference to LC-N type and
7/8" Heliax adapters as being included

- They are options to be ordered
separately by the customer

- Change to 7/8 EIA Connector and
related parts

Fixed power rating spec from 2kW to

3kW

ENTERED BY

J.S.

J.S.

HD..

J.Soper

- G - July 2012

- H - September 2013

- I - April 2016

- Added Power vs Frequency Table

- Added improved maintenance

procedures and installation torque

suggestions

- Added cosmetic repair section

- Added contact info section

- Replaced Silicone grease with
Silicone sealant

- Changed p/n of anti-seize

- Added list of basic tools req’d

- Re-worded installation and
maintenance sections

Update new 7/8 EIA Connector and
related parts (replace obsoleted parts)

J.Soper

J.Soper

Haitu Duong

VTM-98-006/I

Table of Contents

Section Page

1 GENERAL INFORMATION AND SAFETY PRECAUTIONS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

1-1 General Safety Precautions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

1-2 Specific Warnings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

1-3 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

1-4 Equipment Description. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

1-5 Relationship to Other Equipment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

1-6 Reference Data.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

1-7 Equipment Accessories, and Documents Supplied. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

2 OPERATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

2-1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

2-2 Controls and Indicators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

2-3 Operating Procedures.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

2-3.1 Operator Turn-on. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

2-3.2 Modes of Operation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

2-3.3 Operation Under Interfering Conditions.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

2-3.4 Operator Turn-off. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

2-3.5 Emergency Operation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

2-3.6 Emergency Turn-off. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

3 FUNCTIONAL DESCRIPTION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

3-1 Functional Description. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

4 INSTALLATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

4-1 Site Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

4-2 Tools and Materials Required. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

4-3 Unpacking and Repacking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

4-4 Foundation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

4-5 Input Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

4-6 Installation Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

4-7 Cables and Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

4-8 Installation Checkout. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

5 MAINTENANCE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

5-1 Scheduled Maintenance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

5-2 Corrective Maintenance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

5-2.1 General Repairs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

5-2.2 Cosmetic Repairs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

6 QUICK REFERENCE DATA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

6-1 General.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

6-2 Manufacturer’s Address.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

i

VTM-98-006/I

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Figure Page

1-1 Antenna VBBA2-30.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

4-1 Outline Drawing.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

LIST OF TABLES

Table Page

1-1 Reference Data.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

1-2 Power Handling vs Frequency Table. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

1-3 Equipment, Accessories and Documents Supplied. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

4-1 Cable and Connector Group Suggestions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

ii

VTM-98-006/I

SECTION 1

GENERAL INFORMATION AND SAFETY PRECAUTIONS

1-1 GENERAL SAFETY PRECAUTIONS. The following general safety precautions are not

related to any specific procedures and therefore do not appear elsewhere in this publication.
These are recommended precautions that personnel must understand and apply during many
phases of operation and maintenance.

WARNING

Keep away from live circuits. Operating personnel must at all times observe all safety
regulations, to prevent serious injury or death due to electrical shock.

Do not service or adjust alone. Under no circumstances should any person service or adjust
the equipment except in the presence of someone who is capable of rendering aid.

Personnel working with or near high voltages should be familiar with modern methods of
resuscitation.

1.2 SPECIFIC WARNINGS. The following specific precautions are related to inspecting and
removing the antenna.

Ensure that the transmitting equipment is de-energized prior to inspection of the antenna.
Make sure the test equipment is properly grounded, to prevent electric shock.

Make sure the antenna is properly supported before removing its mounting hardware.

Do not coat the insulator with any substance; do not paint with lead base paints.

WARNING

CAUTION

CAUTION

1

VTM-98-006/I

1-3 INTRODUCTION. This manual provides general information, operating and functional

description, and installation data for Valcom's VBBA 2-30 broadband antenna.

1-4 EQUIPMENT DESCRIPTION. The VBBA 2-30 Broadband Antenna (see figure 1-1) is a

whip antenna for general use with HF communications equipment. The antenna provides
vertically polarized, omnidirectional azimuth radiation from 2 to 30 MHz when the antenna
is operated with a HF transceiver. It is designed for use under the severe environmental
conditions encountered aboard Naval vessels. It is used for either receiving or transmitting
high frequency signals. The antenna is a two section antenna and is base mounted. The
mounting flange and insulator is a single integral part made from fibreglass.

1-5 RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER EQUIPMENT. The VBBA 2-30 Antenna interfaces with the

HF receiving and transmitting equipment.

1-6 REFERENCE DATA. Table 1-1 lists the reference data for the antenna.

1-7 EQUIPMENT ACCESSORIES, AND DOCUMENTS SUPPLIED. Table 1-3 lists the

equipment and documents supplied.

2