On 12/6/2010 9:23 AM, Bert Hyman wrote:
The size and layout of our city lot means that I can fit a 40 meter dipole
in the back yard with one end supported at the peak of the roof, but with
no way to guy a mast to hold up the other end. Power lines run directly
along the property line in back, there electrical service line runs right
across the roof of the detached garage and there are no trees back there.

I picked up a couple of [cheap] 10' steel mast sections at the local Radio
Shack and attached the lower section to our fence with conduit clamps, but
just the weight of the antenna under minimum tension causes the upper
section to bow significantly.

I'd like to replace the far-end support with something that will stay erect
under tension without guys. Getting higher than 20' would be nice too.

Can anybody offer practical suggestions to someone with essentially no
mechanical skills, pointers to articles on the subject or commercial
products?


Hi Bert:
Let me tell you what I'm using for my dipole. I have a 40' tower about
the middle of my lot. The dipole center is supported by the tower and
the ends are supported by flagpoles. In the front yard its a real one
piece spun aluminum flag pole for the "looks" and in the back the pole
is a 21'long 1 5/8" steel pipe that is used for the top rail in
industrial chain link fencing. Both poles are mounted as flagpoles are
commonly done (look up erecting flagpoles on the web) with 2' of the
pipe in the ground making it 19' out of the ground. The advantage of
flagpole mounting is it's relatively easy to take down if maintenance is
need. My dipole is heavy as it's a HB fan dipole and covers 160 through
30 meters. I though the pipe would bend too much so when I put it up I
fastened a rope the back side of the top for a back guy. I never used it
and when the time comes to work on it (paint maybe) I will remove it.
Works well and looks good and not hard to put up as I did it with out
any help.

John W3JXP