[QCWA] Flag Pole Antenna

[Jim Wilhite]

Ed, just briefly thinking about the problem you are facing, two thoughts 
come to me.

First is how to put up a flagpole 35 ft. insulated from ground without guys. 
Second then the issue of radials, which I agree, you need to install for 
satisfactory performance.

The radials are easy depending on your pole location.  The lawn edger is a 
good idea to slightly bury then, but don't go too deep, just enough to get 
then low enough so they are not visible and to mow the grass without 
snagging them.

In my case, I had to run all my radials in one direction because my vertical 
is against the property line.  I have about 20  1/4 wave radials down and 
get performance good enough for me.  They are all in about a 20 degree arc 
around the pole.  Do the best you can with this.

I am in a rural area and restrictions are not a problem, so I put a empty 
wine bottle down for the base insulator.  If you can solve the base 
insulator visibility problem, you are on the way.    Put down as many 35 ft. 
radials as you can, and you should have a reasonable signal on 40 and a 1/8 
wave on 75.  It will be tricky to tune, but with a good tuner that will 
match a over a wide range of reactance, you should be able to do something 
on 75.

If you put up a PVC pole, you can put a piece of #10 wire in it and then you 
would have something to work with.  I assume that is your plan.  In this 
case you would only have to hide the connections and the feedline.

Good luck.

73  Jim
W5JO
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Edward Williams Yoder" <edyoder at comcast.net>
To: "QCWA Reflector" <qcwa at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Monday, May 01, 2006 7:29 PM
Subject: [QCWA] Flag Pole Antenna


> Hi all,
>
> I would like to install a flag pole about 35 feet high flying the American 
> flag, but insulate same from ground.  I'm in a home owners association 
> which doesn't want antennas, so I'm disguising this as an antenna.  I 
> don't have room to use radials or a ground plane installation.  I would 
> sink a 10 foot, copper ground rod to achieve same.  I have an antenna 
> tuner which I assume would take care of the operations on 40 thru 10 meter 
> bands (75 meters is a maybe on this arrangement).
>
> Do any of you have a similar situation or could give me pointers as to how 
> to best accomplish my objective?
>
> Your opinions will be most appreciative.
>
> Best 73s,
> Ed Yoder, W3YMB
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