Antenna Mast / homemade / for Ham Radio
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- Опубліковано 12 вер 2024
- 30' Homemade antenna mast for ham radio. I did not want to wait 20 years for a tree to grow where I need one. No guy wires at the height that I am using. Enjoy, 73 As of 6/24 it is still working just fine. Ad4xt
VERY ingenious set-up! You got to keep an eye on the 4x4 at the ground level. Especially, in warm and wet climates......the wood softens and rots in no time!
Yes you do. After the 4x4 dried out I applied several coats of colored stain. This one has been up for about 7 years now.
I built a second one in another area of my yard. I reused the same post. Still looking okay.
Thanks for watching. Steve - Ad4xt
I think this is the VERY best practical affordable tower build on the internet!!! Thank you for sharing
KD9OAM calling from the future, I had to have my son help me push mine up, I'm 75 and getting a little weak. Well done. 73's
I understand. It's been awhile since I've lowered mine. Good to have an extra pair of hands. Safety first. Steve - Ad4xt
GREAT VIDEO !!! You have just demonstrated what real Ham Radio is all about ! Real hams, use their imagination, creativity, experience and ingenuity...not their hard-earned CA$H to build antennas, accessories and gear for their stations. This is a great "walk-up" tilt-antenna idea, far better than a $500 wobbly guy-wired telescoping mast that can't handle nearly the weight or wind.
One hell of a nice tower there, I like that you economized on it and have two different antennas too. At first I wanted to make fun of the hard hat, but then again I have never worked construction before, or had 100+ pounds of wood and steel swing down and crack me in the skull before. So I shouldn't make fun... Safety first is a good message that's hard to argue with actually.
This is one of the best antenna videos on UA-cam thanks for posting. I am going to 40 for for my Helium antenna and this info and design is invaluable.
Glad it was helpful! Good luck.
@@hamradioportable1630 I did the same and have the antenna at 30' right now and have realized I def need some guy wires to go taller !
Brilliant! Video's been up 4 years and I just saw it. This looks really sturdy and could also work to suspend a rotator and bushing for a directional. Thanks for the brilliant idea and nice video.
WOW!!! I am going to borrow your idea!! Like others have mentioned, it is WAY BETTER than guy wires going everywhere to trip over!!!! Thanks a lot, Steve!... 73's,...Ron, K6PAM
Great home brew share! Thanks man!
I enjoyed your video. Thank you. It definitely gave me new ideas for designing a antenna tower. I love the ground anchor idea. Pivot and bolts - nice. I'm thinking a similar base and mast but a cross bean with a 40m and a 10m hamstick. 73 Joe - KC1NNR
Thanks for watching Joe. It's still working very well for me. Stay safe.
That’s really great idea for a antenna mast outdoor.
Great job, very nice, 192 Southern Utah with a wave 👋 73
Waving back from GA. I now have a 5/8 wave Maco ground plane for 10M on top of it now. Great antenna for 10m as we head to the top of the solar cycle.
Steve - Ad4xt
Seriously guy I love your hat that's a very very simple idea thank you I really do like your hat
nice setup. couldn't tell for sure but if you have room behind you could put in a post that is 8ft out of the ground, pulley on top with winch at bottom.
Exactly what I did. Two 12ft posts, the top one hinges at 5ft off the ground. 10ft of EMT on the top post puts the antenna at 30ft. Hand winch at 4ft up, cable wraps around the top of the bottom post along roller bearings (pulleys).
This looks perfect for the 5' tall (wo rails) 4 x 10 platform that used to be for the swimming pool. Its not going anywhere. I can even put a cheap hand crank winch on it.
I used your design to build my mast! It is a great home brew design!! 73s KF5OWH
A lot better than waiting for a tree to grow. Thanks for watching.
Steve Whittington only issue on mine is the two boards try to separate so have to tighten every now and then. But very sturdy any suggestions? I figure I did something but can’t figure.
@@HoboFreightHamRadio did you use treated 4x4's ? Try a large flat washers on outside of the bolts and nuts.
Good stuff, Steve! The next time you need to replace your rope, replace it with Dacron rope. You won’t find anything that holds up better. Even the Jetstream brand is awesome.
Yea, I'm glad you reminded everyone.
amazing DIYourself! 73!!
very good video I need to show this to a friend his back yard is small thanks
Great video Steve!
Thanks for sharing this, I wonder how it's doing five years down the line? Some good ideas here which I have taken on board and may use. Best 73, G0ACE
Good question. It's still doing okay. I have built another one on the opposite side of my backyard. I cemented another new 8 foot 4x4 into the ground and moved the same 4x4 16' to the new location. I was short on time as a friend was on the way over to help with the install of a Maco 5/8 wave ground plane on top of the pole. I did lower the top of the mast pole down a few feet. More wind load than a wire dipole but it's doing just fine. I need to do an update video showing the Maco antenna on top. A great antenna for 10M. Thanks for watching . Steve - Ad4xt
@@hamradioportable1630 Hi Steve, thanks for the reply and I'm glad it's working well for you. Best 73, G0ACE
I picture a 6x6 inch post base in the ground with a 4x4 attached. I like the idea.
I would probably a bolt on the back perpendicular to the support bolts to hang barbell plates (scouted from a Goodwill) on the back to act as a counterweight while raising or lower. Once you are done raising or lowering, remove the weights.
That's a great idea!! And cheap too 😀.
Great antenna system!!
I'am Your Newest Subscriber Great Videos
Thanks and welcome
Thanks for the video. Good job
Very simple and effective tilt down mast system that does not use guy ropes for support. What Antenna is that?
I used it for supporting a fan dipole, 80/40/20.
Your videos are helpful. Could you please tell me after the 4x4 what is the pole made out of? I am told different things about what material can be uses. I am not sure if yours is metal or not. I am wanting the same thing you have due to no trees. I would also love to see how your pulls system works if you have a video you can point me to that you have made showing that. I have not seen it if you have it on your channel. Again, thank you for down to earth videos.
Pressure treated pine.
@@hamradioportable1630 I am sorry I was not clear on my question. Above the wood post you have what looks like to be a metal pole but I was not sure if it was metal or a fiberglass pole of some kind.
Great job.
Nice mast, however you might want to put an inexpensive manual boat wench on the bottom of the support pole and use it to raise up the mast more easily (slower but definitely easy).
That's what I did. Two 12ft 4x4 posts, with the first hinge point 5ft up makes raising the mast by hand pretty heavy and dangerous. The boat winch and roller cable guides make it very easy to lower and raise.
Thanks for sharing. Would it be easier to raise if you made your pivot point the middle bolt and added a counter balance weight of some kind to the bottom of the 4x4? You would have had to have poured your concrete pad a little further from the fence. Thanks again.
Yea i thought about that but was i too close to the fence.
@@hamradioportable1630 You could add a 3/4" pipe, maybe a foot long and hang 2 or 3+ 25lb weights to make the counterweight, position the pipe to be pointing up when the mast is in the down position. Just a thought. Or maybe bungees to help lift it up.
The issue with having co-aligned conductors in the near field is they will couple and you run into several related issues. 2 separate parralel coax runs will also cause RF and common mode. At the very least make sure to never run the 2 antennas at the same time especially on different radios. RF from one will send powerful RF into the others receive side and destroy it.
Great idea. I will try it
Nice set up. I need something like that. Never thought of using a pivot point with a 4X4 and mast bolted to 4X4. What part of Georgia do ya live. I used to live in Jonesboro.
Thanks, I'm in Columbus
Thank you, excellent idea 👍👍👍
You are welcome 😊 Mine is still up and working great!
Thanks for watching.
Very cool
Nice
Really CooL man!
I want to build something like this now. Except the soil at my QTH is really hard like clay and has rocks, so I will likely need to rent a backhoe to dig the hole.
Give it a test dig and see what you have. Good luck. Steve Ad4xt.
How long was the top metal pole? This is a great idea!
I think he used two top rail metal fence ploes at 10 feet each and had about 3 to 4 foot where the first one bolted to the top of the beam and used some sort of plate or through bolts to secure it.
Nice video. How well does it do when it is windy? We can get winds up to 20+ mph at times where I live.
You should not have any problem. This one has been up since 2015 and we get some pretty violent thunderstorms here in the south.
KI7BSL, out of Cheyenne Wyoming here. Great idea for an antenna mount. But then again we Hams often have great idea's :) Did you use Marine grade varnish?
I used a stain with color. Came out too light so far as color but is holding up well. 6 years now.
Thinking of doing this do you think 1 3/4” EMT would be stronger than the top rail. I would probably put a 1 1/2” EMT inside the larger section at the joint looking for about 25’ high mast
Steve, does the fence top rail have any effect on the antennas? Great Idea, and video. 73
None with my dipole antennas. The T section at the top keeps the center connector and wire away from the pole.
Nbr ! - Safety. Nbr 2 - Keep it simple !
Very cool!
I like it! What kind of wind load does it take? W0OSH. 73.
I have had no wind issues with wire antenna's.
Do you use a ground or any lightning protectors on these wire antennas?
Steve, a few questions, how do you deal with potential lightening issues from your mast to the radio? Also how was it tuning that fan dipole with that arrangement? Very informative - Bill KD0WAN
No issues so far. I do disconnect everything for bad weather . An 8' ground rod with lightning protection before the coax enters the shack is what i try to do. Steve
@@hamradioportable1630 Thanks Steve, how was it tuning your fan dipoles with that arrangement?
Nice! What kind of antenna is it? 73de LB6CI
Fan Dipole 80/40/20
💥💥💥
Translated: Round eye smart guy
"No guy wires needed" Evidently you don't live in the Mountain West where 40 MPH winds, with heavier gusts, are common.
We do have our share of thunderstorms here in the south. Not much wind load with this setup.
Is the mast still standing? Thinking of doing something similar. Is it solid?
Yes, it it is still working great. I currently have an 80m/40m/20m fan dipole on it.
Maybe sometime the 6 meter band will be open and we can make a contact. 73 AE4OY WILLIAM EM-81UF God bless.
How long is your coax?
50'
@@hamradioportable1630 Thanks !
A handful of people seem to think there is some mysterious thing going on with various coax length and maybe there is I don't know.
One guys says the shortest route from your antenna to your radio is best and less losses. Others say multiples of nine, I've herd multiples of 18' also.
Hey If you ever want to add a wench to it you could mount the wench low on the stationary pole, leave the top bolt in, let the bottom swing out with the wench.
We use to have a monster flag pole that worked like that. Its pivot point was like 10 ft high. total length was like 25 or 30 ft. It was made with 4 x 5 square steel tubing so had to be wenched. It was slid inside a larger baser tubing that had the face of once side removed to allow the pole to pivot outside of its resting place.
Any guy ropes or wires?
No , seems very sturdy. Wire antennas do not have much wind load. The dipole act as a bit of support from 2 sides.
fine business WB5MZO
Stuff like that scares me...I would have waited for a helper