[SMCARA] (no subject)

[Clarke, Tom AIR4.0P NATOPS]

Hi Chris,

That's a good antenna, I have one mounted on the roof and another in the attic. On the roof, I strapped a 10 foot section of 1 inch aluminum tube (from Lowes) to a vent pipe using a clamp from Radio-Shack.  It is fed with RG-214 (double shielded 50 coax), although for VHF/UHF the LMR stuff is better.  It wasn't available 30 years ago when the antenna went up! I painted it with brown Rustoleum and it has a very low visual impact (I live in a "antenna free zone"- Wildewood).  The attic antenna was simply suspended from a rafter with some string.  Both work well, although the outside one is a bit better.  Two reasons,  higher antenna height  and shorter feedline (less loss).

N.B., make sure the paint is nonmetallic or your antenna will become a remotely mounted dummy load!

Other options would be getting a five gallon plastic pail and a bag or two of Sakrete for weight.  Put a piece of PVC pipe in the concrete that is slightly larger in order to fit the mast you use.  This is a good choice for minimally invasive construction.  One set of guy wires ( or parachute cord) would be a help when the wind blows.

Another choice would be to dig a 1 to 2 foot hole large enough in diameter to hold a 4x4 pressure treated pole, and backfill with gravel or Sakrete (or both).  After the base settles/cures, strap the antenna pole to the 4x4 with straps and lag bolts. You may not need guys in this case.  If you go this route, make sure the top of the concrete is a few inches below grade.  That way when you take it down, you just cut the wooden pole off flush with the concrete and cover with dirt.

There was an article in QST a few years ago, where a ham built a 6 foot square base out of pressure treated 2x4s.  It basically was a square of 2x4 or maybe 2x6, with an interior X.  At the center of the X was a 5 or 6 foot vertical that had 45 degree angle braces (2x2 or 2x4) to the base. This thing was heavy and solid and again, easy (well, sort of!) to remove when it is moving day.

Regarding the coax, go for the best you can afford.  The idea is to get as much RF "up the chimney" and into the aether and not waste it on heating the coax.  Not much heating from an HT, but you still want as much of that RF getting to the antenna.

Here is another idea, although you have an antenna, that might come in handy in the future, if you find yourself in an antenna restricted neighborhood.  There is an antenna called the "Ventenna",  which slips over a vent and works well.  To the casual observer it just looks like a longer vent pipe!  I suspect you could build one with stuff from Lowes, although I have never tried.

"Clarke's First Law of Antennas" - If it sounds stupid, but it works, it isn't stupid!

73 Tom/W4OKW

-----Original Message-----
From: Christopher Olson [mailto:lilsmokeeater5 at yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, March 09, 2015 10:03 AM
To: Clarke, Tom AIR4.0P NATOPS
Subject:

Tom

I had it set up but I wasn't happy with it after looking at it, I thought I'd reach out to everyone to see if there was anyone who had installed them (Diamond X50 antenna) and could maybe come down and give me some pointers on how to install it better or maybe give me some advice on a better place to place it. I'm just new at this and want to make sure I'm doing it right.

I'm sorry to bug everyone

Christopher M. Olson
Sent from my iPhone