Hi, BVARC!
I'm curious as to what others are doing for masts/towers. I'm in an HOA ("no
antennas") with a tiny little yard. Nobody has complained so far about my
homebrew "DX Commander" style fan vertical, which looks like a 31' jackite pole
(because that's pretty much what it is, with some 3d-printed wire spreaders).
I was holding that up w/ a 5' piece of 3/4 copper water pipe driven halfway
into the ground. Worked for several months, but the wind finally bent the
pipe. I have some 5' electrical conduit that looks a little tougher, but I may
resort to guying. The metal inside the bottom of the fiberglass pole, I
suspect, interferes with my 10m element, anyway...
I'm also wanting to put my Ed Fong DBJ-1 (which looks like a 5' PVC pipe) up
with the feedpoint 25-30'. I picked up a couple of old tires, and I'm thinking
of filling one with concrete (think tetherball pole) and mounting a couple of
pieces of angle iron in the concrete, so I can drill holes, put some sort of
mast between them, and make a "tilt over" base/hinge for the mast. Has anybody
built a self-supporting (non-guyed) 30 foot mast out of, say, some sort of
stock from Home Depot/Lowe's? The internet has lots of stories about using
chain link fence top rail (10' sections), but most say that 2 of those (20') is
all you join before it gets super wobbly. Would love to use some sort of
square tube - maybe nesting sections - but not sure where to get 10' sections,
and not sure aluminum would be strong enough or steel would be light enough...
Anyway, that's where I am. I thought I'd float this out there to benefit from
the experience of those who have been there and done that. Hope y'all can help
me come up with something that will work while avoiding poor choices that could
cause damage or hurt somebody.
Thanks!
-Jeff, W5JEF
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