[Elecraft] Mast question

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

That and similar designs are in almost any ARRL Handbook from the 1930's
into the ARRL Antenna manuals of the 1960's. Sometimes the old designs are
the best designs. 

Living on a postage-stamp sized lot a few years ago and not wanting a huge
ugly mast I erected an inverted vee using a mast made out of five 1x2 pieces
of lumber. Each length was only 8 feet. They were arranged in a T formation
with the edge of one screwed and glued against the wide part of the other
and staggered so solid wood bridged the butted joints. The last 1X2 was used
to make short sections for further reinforce the joints. I mounted it on the
house just outside the shack window with the base about 10 feet up, so the
total height was just under 30 feet at the peak: OK for 40 meter NVIS (many
QRP contacts out to 1500 miles or so and the occasional DX) and perfect for
20 meters and up to pick up maximum low-angle earth reflections. 

Painted white, the mast had to be pointed out to people outside before they
noticed it and it held my doublet for a number of years until we moved away.


With the mast supported in two places about 4 feet apart near the bottom and
the inverted V providing some self-guying at the top, it needed no further
support. 

I, too, had limited length available. No trees and just the peak of the roof
and garage for end supports. I'm a fan of doublets (non-half wave center fed
wires) and fed mine with open wire line. Not liking ribbon line much, I
picked up some 12 ga house wire and a bunch of white "dog-bone" antenna
insulators at HRO along with a handful of screw-in standoffs for TV "ladder
line". I popped the insulators for the ladder line out of the screw eyes and
screwed them into the mast at about 4 ft intervals.  Then I opened the eyes
enough to clamp them around the center grove in the dog bone insulators
(ladder line eyelets are quite soft metal -unlike real "screw eyes". The
insulators were about 4 inches hole-to-hole, which made great ladder line
spacing. A short piece of wire wrapped around each feeder where it passed
through the hole in the insulator kept it from shifting. Only a few were
needed. Screwing the eyelets into the pole kept the line stable in any wind
and the white insulators and white wires were darn near invisible from 20
feet unless they were pointed out. 

My radiator was about 60 feet overall, plenty to work with very high
efficiency on 40 and up and I made a number of contacts on 80 M. One thing
you can do to get more room for a resonant wire is to bend it at the ends up
to 90 degrees. If the ends can go to the peak of your roof just continue the
wire on down to the eaves keeping it several inches from the roof (assuming
you don't have a metal roof). You should pick up 15 feet or so at each end
that way. 

73, Ron AC7AC

-----Original Message-----
From: Elecraft [mailto:elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of JJ
Sent: Friday, May 27, 2016 10:57 AM
To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
Subject: [Elecraft] Mast question

3 16' 2X4's and you're in business.
Google 2X4 antenna mast.
Good luck and 73,
Jon
WS1K