I do plan to add a fair number of guys, and will be installing them just as
you have suggested. I do have a question about driving the 1 1/8" mounting
tube into the earth. The directions give a warning about splitting the
plastic insert and suggest placing a piece of wood on top of the tube and
then hammer on the wood. The soil here is clay, and the ground is
quite dry,
at the present time. Do you, or anyone else, have any suggestions about
driving the tube into the ground. Should I drive a wooden stake first to
form a hole, remove the stake, and then drive the tube into the hole
left by
the stake?

Post Hole/fencing Borer comes to mind or depending on your current soil
condition you could use a hose pipe with a tube inserted in the tip and
bore a hole that way, albeit fairly high pressure is needed, but that
could be achieved with a pressure washer. As you start off your bound to
be soaked a bit, but as you [bore deeper] push/ pull the nozzle out of
the hole so that excess soil/clay can be removed by the water, bore down
to your required depth, insert pole and back fill with sand or tamp down
soil sides. This is also one way to ensure you can get a decent enough
hole, deep enough to insert a earth stake. Your idea of utilising a hole
by driving in a stake would no doubt give you problems extracting it
back out again as I assume that you would be requiring a depth of about
900mm? Dave d:-)

--
Amateur Radio Call Sign M1BTI, Located in Manchester England.
Locator square IO83TK
Chairman Of Trafford Radio Club. Club Call Signs G0TRG & M1BBP
Located at Umist, University Of Manchester Institute For Science And
Technology
Share What You Know, Learn What You Don't.

My antenna and ground mount came to me a used equipment/
The mounting post that came along is fantastically designed. Let me
try to describe it to you:
Galvanized steel water pipe four feet in lenght with a nominal Inner
diameter of about 1 inch.
One end has a taper point ( very much like a sand point well point)
wellded to it..

The opposite end ( side that vertical and atenna insulater is dropped
into) has 3 in by 3 inch " ears welded parrallel to the length of the
pipe, 5 inches from the end and 180 aprt from each other.
The welded steel ears are about 3/16 of an in thick. Each ear has a
3/8 inch hole drilled through them about 3/4 of an inch from the top
of the ear. This permits hooking 1/4 or 5/16 proof coil chain as a
point to remove pole using a convienent fulcrum or jack.
I use a 10 pound mall to drive the pole into medium hard ground. I
strike the ears, not the pole. When you get to ground level with the
ears continue to drive the ears to the bolt holes. This pole will
never rotate.

It is almost easier to fabricate this than it is to describe it.
Completely removable and reusable mount.
Two 3/16 holes are drilled through the fiberglass insulator and
through the mount where I have number 10 -24 stainless hardware.

Ron





On Sun, 10 Jul 2005 15:44:19 +0100, Dave Piggin
wrote:



I do plan to add a fair number of guys, and will be installing them just as
you have suggested. I do have a question about driving the 1 1/8" mounting
tube into the earth. The directions give a warning about splitting the
plastic insert and suggest placing a piece of wood on top of the tube and
then hammer on the wood. The soil here is clay, and the ground is
quite dry,
at the present time. Do you, or anyone else, have any suggestions about
driving the tube into the ground. Should I drive a wooden stake first to
form a hole, remove the stake, and then drive the tube into the hole
left by
the stake?

Post Hole/fencing Borer comes to mind or depending on your current soil
condition you could use a hose pipe with a tube inserted in the tip and
bore a hole that way, albeit fairly high pressure is needed, but that
could be achieved with a pressure washer. As you start off your bound to
be soaked a bit, but as you [bore deeper] push/ pull the nozzle out of
the hole so that excess soil/clay can be removed by the water, bore down
to your required depth, insert pole and back fill with sand or tamp down
soil sides. This is also one way to ensure you can get a decent enough
hole, deep enough to insert a earth stake. Your idea of utilising a hole
by driving in a stake would no doubt give you problems extracting it
back out again as I assume that you would be requiring a depth of about
900mm? Dave d:-)