AB2RC wrote:
On 2004-12-21, wrote:
I am a newbie wanting to set up a base station at my house on top
of my
tv tower. I am interested in building one myself. I have the
capability
to weld.
I hope you are referring to welding antenna elements, and not
building a
tower by yourself
Do the j poles have gain to them? Are they near the performance of
a
several element yagi?
Gain over what? Asking about gain without providing a reference point
is
sort of useless. If memory serves me correct (and I do admit that my
memory
is somewhat porous right now) a j-pole will have about the same gain
as a
dipole over an isotropic radiator or 2.4dbi. A yagi would certainly
have
more gain over a dipole or a j-pole. Remember that a yagi is
directional,
and the j-pole is not. If you want to hit repeaters in more than one
direction, you will need a way to rotate the yagi.
Can I make a dual band antenna in each of these styles?
Yes, google is your friend here.
Do the copper j poles last many years? I sometimes have high winds
and
lots of rain. Plus, I dont like heights and only want to do this
once.
I have one that has been up for 3 years now. The only difference
between now
and when it first went up is that it is a darker color now due to
weathering. It seems to be just as strong now as t was then.
I would ideally like to reach a repeater about 70 - 80 miles away
from
me.
That would depend mostly on how high up you can get the antenna (yagi
or
j-pole) VHF/UHF is line of sight.
--
Alex / AB2RC
Linux is user friendly, however it is not idiot friendly
No, the tv tower is already up. I meant I can weld the elements. (Of
course only if it is weldable material.) I was wondering if emt tubing
would be a good choice?
The antenna would be about 25 feet up. I had someone else tell me that
a j pole does not work very well. Is this true?
I can rotate the mast by turning the antenna rotor hooked to my tv down
stairs. The only pain would be running down stairs every time I want to
do it.
What would you do in this situation? Can you get as good as or better
performance building one yourself?