"Rob" wrote in message ...
I am now in the market for a new vertical after my old R7000 was hit by
lightning.

My old R7000 was mounted on a 45 foot Tower. (At this height, the antenna
worked great!)

I am considering purchasing a SmallIR vertical (from www.steppir.com) and
mounting it on this 45 foot tower with radials dropping downward from the
tower. I won't be able to easily guy the vertical but it would appear that
it is pretty strong with a 80 MPH wind survival rating without radials.

Is it a good idea to install the SmallIR on top of a 45 foot Tower?
Has anyone successfully used the SmallIR vertical mounted on a 45 foot
Tower?

I am also considering purchasing the BigIR vertical. But if its guying
requirements, I won't be able to mount it on the Tower. Instead, I am
thinking of using my elevated deck as a support. My Back wooden deck is
about 9 foot off the ground with a 4 foot fence and some posts about 7 feet
tall. I am thinking of mounting the antenna feed point about 8 to 9 feet
off the ground and use the bottom of the deck to install radials. I will
use the post to provide additional support instead of using guy wires.

Will this work? (I realise I will have to fiddle with the length of the
radials)

73's
Rob
Quebec

It will work, but I'd rather have an antenna on the tower at 45 ft any
day. I think if I had to choose between a smaller antenna higher, or a
longer one lower, I'd usually prefer the higher smaller antenna. But
of course will depend on the number of radials you have at the lower
level. I don't know what bands you prefer, but take 40m...At 8-9 ft,
you would probably need at least 60 radials to equal the level of
performance of just 4 radials at 45 ft. MK