[Lowfer] LowFER Grabber and Converter

[JD]

Alas, the telescoping 30 to 50 foot TV masts seem to have become very hard 
to find any more, as I reported in the saga of my own beacon in The LOWDOWN 
earlier this year.  The last time I saw one in a catalog, which has been 
several years ago now, it was nearly $70.  They've gone up since!  I priced 
one through a local hardware store last year that handles Channel Master, 
and discovered the 40-footer is $130 and the 50-footer is $170, give or 
take.  Same with a couple of online sources (eBay was _not_ one of 
those...been burned too many times there...but you might luck out).

Many of the vendors of TV antennas and accessories are no longer with 
us--thanks in no small part to the big (and ongoing) wireless data spectrum 
grab that made digital TV a mandated process, not a marketplace decision, 
thus further driving consumers away from over-the-air reception to cable and 
satellite for their local channels.  These masts have become a specialty 
item for the remaining vendors now,  They're also heavy and a bit 
cumbersome, despite their ability to telescope.

The 43-foot telescoping ham verticals are much lighter and are not 
necessarily a budget buster, though.  You can buy individual tubing 
sections, and/or you may not need the base section either if you already 
have a good insulator.

You can buy suitable tubing at better hardware stores, too.  Even if your 
antenna doesn't telescope, there are ways to get one up in the air.

As I said earlier, the antenna for a Part 15 LowFER is not high-tech.  If 
the mast is sufficiently in the clear, there's not much else you need to 
worry about with it.  It's the loading coil and the ground system that will 
benefit from all the attention you can realistically give them.

John