Shakespeare AT-1011
A Military Surplus Shakespeare AT-1011, the official Field Day antenna at W7KF
The AT-1011 is a field deployable vertical antenna. It is made up of eight 4-foot fiberglass sections that screw together with a special, proprietery thread. The bottom four sections are the same (thick) diameter and the top four sections taper down to a thin top piece. These top four sections are often used as a 16 foot mobile whip. When the vehicle becomes stationary the bottom four pieces can be added to make a 32' antenna.
Alternatively, the entire whip can be assembled and mounted as a temporary or permanent base station antenna.
The antenna is rated at 1-KW (probably continuous duty although that isn't specified). No doubt the military asked for a 1-KW antenna so that's what it's rated for. I also have no doubt the antenna can take considerably more than 1,000 watts before the fiberglass begins to melt..
The AT-1011 comes in a typical military stout canvas carry bag that keeps the elements together and protected. Here's a pic of one of mine showing the skinny top and one of the fat bottom elements.
This is just the basic antenna with no options or mounting facilities.
There is also the AT120-60 variation. It comes in a similar canvas bag but it has more goodies. Specifically, the AT120-60 is designed to be mounted to a stake driven into the earth, it has four radials on wind-up reels and it has a guy rope system and the BFH (big hammer) used to pound in the mount stake and guy line stakes. Here's some pics of my AT120-60 variant. (Note that it is in new condition while my bare AT-1011 shown above obviously has seen plenty of sunshine.)
All bagged up and nowhere to go!
Notice the extra pouches inside the main bag. These hold the various accessories. The two white sheets are the instructions, printed on tyvek and sewn into the carry bag.
Here's the radials pouch and the radials themselves. The radials are on reels to make deploying and retrieving them simple. They have a hook terminal on the antenna end to facilitate easy attachment. Oh, also, that's the BFH. Probably cost a kazillion dollars and came from the same factory as the $10,000 toilet seat.
This is the ground stake (top), the long 'nut' and the short bolt thread onto the stake and you use the BFH to pound it into the ground. The nut and bolt protect the stake from hammering damage. Then, you remove the nut and bolt and thread the antenna mount assembly on. The ferrule is used to attach the coax or the line from an antenna coupler to the antenna mount. Then, of course, the antenna threads onto the mount. Very elegant.
This shows the guy rope system. With the ground stake as the only mount point the guy ropes are necessary. Shakespeare thought of everything though. You pound in the ground mount stake, place the guy rope mount triangle on the stake and run the guy ropes out, flat on the ground. At a marked point on the guy rope you pound in the guy rope stake. Then you put the guy rope mount on the antenna at the specified height and hoist the antenna. The guy ropes will be taut at that point! Very clever.
And, here are the eight 4-foot long AT-1011 antenna sections.
Wow! Nice and shiny! If you can still see the labels on the antenna elements then you have a really nice antenna that hasn't seen much if any field duty.
The Shakespeare AT-1011 and variants are great antennas.
- Can be deployed quickly by one person
- Heights can range from 16 to 32 feet
- Withstand high winds and other adverse conditions
- Are rated for 1-KW and can probably take the full US Amateur power level
- Have available many mounting options and accessories
And, speaking of mounting options check out the coolest mount of all - the official W7KF AT-1011 Tripod Mount system.
If you work me on Field Day, this is the antenna launching the RF!