So I want a base setup. How do I get an antenna in the air?

[High_Speed]

So I'm contemplating setting up a base station in my garage, but the only experience I have is with installing mobiles. I honestly have no idea where to start in setting up a base. I'm planning on using a mobile radio in the garage hooked up to a power supply, and then I guess I just need to run some good coax up through the ceiling and outside. I figure I should put the antenna somewhere along the side of the house right outside the garage. That should make a really short coax run.


I'm looking at an IMAX 2000, but I'm a little bit puzzled on just how to get it up in the air. I would prefer to be able to get it up and down by myself if possible. Some locals have suggested I could go to Lowe's and get a couple fence post railing pieces, drive one into the ground, and place the next on top, with the antenna attached to the top of it.

I'm assuming if I do that, I would still have to have someone help me hoist the second railing and attached antenna up onto the first post. If that's the case...how do I tune the SWR? Take it back down, adjust, put it back up?

I thought of another idea, and please tell me if this will or won't work. What if I installed a telescoping flagpole on the side of the garage? Would that hold an IMAX 2000 up? I suppose about halfway up, just before it reaches above my roof garage I could anchor it to the side of the house for extra stability? Then if I need to take it down, I just need to climb up there with a ladder, remove the ubolt attaching it to the house, and then I could lower it down myself.

Will this work? I may have picked up some inspiration from 2140s post in this thread: [Please login or register to view this link]

-- Thursday, 11 June 2015, 13:45 PM --

Edit: would something like this work: [Please login or register to view this link]

[1206FL]

You can also get collapsible mast off the auction site. The fence rail top posts are okay but that antenna is a bit heavy for 2 IMO. Not enough pipe between the 2 joining sections to hold it properly. Unless you bury the first pole to the side of the house and somehow mount the first and 2nd poles together at the side of the house. Look up telescoping mast. Rohn makes good ones. They come in all different lengths. Some require guise wire as well. Another option would be to get 2 10ft TV mast pipes that have the proper joining sections and put them up as well. The auction site will have those as well. Good luck.

[ogdoa]

I actually ran my Imax with two fence poles until I found a tower. I used plumbers strapping to hold it to the house and it held up through some pretty nasty weather. As for the swr issue...those antennas come pretty close from the factory and are pretty wide banded. I use mine on 10 meter now and have never touched the rings for adjusting swr. About 1.2 on 20, 1.3 on 40 and channel 1. I would like to mention one thing though. They call them fishing poles for a reason. They get to swinging like a cat hanging from its tail when its windy. I also have not had much luck running power through them. I ruined 2 of them running to much power through them. I believe their power rating is a little inflated.

[Bluerunner]

I made a 25' push up pole with conduit & fence rail:

Fence Rail - 1 3/8" X 10' 6"
EMT Conduit - 1 1/4" X 10'
Fence Post - 1 5/8" X 8'

Drill bolt holes so the sections overlap about 12". Seems plenty sturdy enough, especially when attached to the house eves at about 10'
Mark them well so you don't pull a section out too far or you will be dancing around with the pipe & antenna like a watermelon on a stick.

I spliced another 8' section of fence post on the bottom to get another 8' in height when I moved it to a different section of the house that had a higher roof. I was able to stand on the roof and telescope the two upper sections.

These sections were from Home Depot. The fit may be different from another supplier or brand so you might want to try it out in the store first.

[Deleted User 14541]

A push up pole like people used back in the day for tv antennas work well. You will need guy wires to support it but you can do it all by yourself with some planning and a calm day. If the tree tops are blowing the slightest bit don't even think about it.

You can get a push up pole (telescoping mast) from home depot but they will have to order it in. If you have neighbors I strongly recommend non conductive guy rope and running the coax straight down the mast and along the ground. Radiating guy wires and common mode on the coax can cause RFI with the neighbors. I like to do all I can to prevent it.

[High_Speed]

Alright. Push up poles. But wait....would I still need guy wires if anchoring it to the side of the house? I thought guy wires were only necessary for larger towers.

[Deleted User 14541]

If you anchor it to the side of the house I'd still guy each section above that point. Some people don't and get away with it.

Some guys just guy the very top and forget the lower sections. With enough wind load on the antenna the lower sections can buckle and the whole thing comes crashing down.

You can cut the guy wires to an approximate length before you start raising it. Pythagoras theorem from high school geometry class comes in handy.

[southwind]

Highspeed in Kentucky. You have got some good idea's here, push up mast is only way to go. I did basically what you did by mounting on the garage eve @ the breezeway connected to back door of house. These clamps that I list is the only way to mount the lower part of the mast. Mount one close to the bottom, then mount the top one close to the overhang. You may have to put a small 2x4 behind it to clear your gutter.
Channel Master 3079 4" Inch Wall Mount Antenna Mast 1 Pair 2 Pack Heavy Duty W
( 271442925674 )
ITEM PRICE: US $6.95
Good luck and 3's from Georgia Dawg country to you/yours, Good evening.

[High_Speed]

Alright all. Tell me if this will work.

I take a 1.315-in x 126-in Gray 17-Gauge Galvanized Steel Chain-Link Fence Top Rail (from Lowe's) and bury it a foot or two into the ground. This is 10.5' in length, minus what is buried into the ground, so say to the top is 8.5' off the ground. I add another one on top of this, overlapping (drilling holes and adding a bolt through them to secure them together. At my roof approximately 13.5' off the ground, I anchor the second section to the roof. Assuming I overlap the two pieces 12", and with the 2 feet in ground, that's 21' minus 3' which should put me at 18'. My roof is 14' off the ground, so this should be 4' above my roof line. I then take another one of these fence rails cut down to around 5' (to make it easier to handle while I'm on the roof and also to keep the overall "mast" a bit more rigid) and mount the 24' IMAX 2000 to the top of it. Then I place this third section (with the antenna on top of it) on top of the total 18' of railing and again bolt to the section underneath it after another 12" of overlapping.

So if I'm not missing any calculations, that's 26' in total length of railing, minus 2' in the ground, and two 1' overlaps, so 26-4=22' to the bottom of the antenna. The antenna is 24' tall, so 46' from the ground to the tip of it, which is 32 feet above the roof of my house...

If I bury the bottom section into the ground and then anchor the middle section into the side of the roof at around 13.5', will the rest be okay without guy wires, or am I missing something still?

[Deleted User 14541]

It really depends on your ability and balance. Some people can make the impossible happen and others end up with an antenna sticking through the roof.

I've already said use guy wires of some kind if you go much above the roof. It's your property and your responsibility so it's really your decision.

[High_Speed]

Alright. So...how do I do the guy wires? Sorry.

[Deleted User 14541]

How do you do them? Tie them off to equally spaced anchor points around the antenna.

[MDYoungblood]

You can use standoffs to mount the mast to the side of the house,
[Please login or register to view this link]
They come in different styles and depth depending on the eave of the house. If the mast extends only 4ft above the last mount there would be no need to guy it, it could go even higher as long as the telescoping section is below the last house mount. Using the pushup poles as menetioned will let you drop the antenna down to a workable height for tuning.

3's

Greg