They don't work that well and they are not free standing! And they are
cheap because in 2 years they are so rusted you can no longer use it ;-(
I've been there and done that, I wont do it again.

Radio Shack's telescoping masts work well and are cheap.

Do you need to climb it?

jw
wb9uai




--
That Other George

Please send your spam to:

http://webpages.charter.net/moment/

http://webpages.charter.net/moment/winjunk.htm

I bought a 30 foot tower from my local TV shop a few years back for $35.00
a 10 section. The company that makes it is American Tower I think they are
in FL but a call to my local TV shop and he still sells the stuff only the
price is now $41.00 a 10 foot section :-) It's free standing to 30 feet
with a 3 foot X 3 foot X 3 foot base, or you can do what I did and stick 3
feet of the 30 foot tower in a 3' X 3' X 3' hole and fill it with
quickcrete and run the garden hose on it for a few min :-) I used 2 U
clamps to clamp it to the house in the middel of the 2nd section so my
tower is good to 50 feet I'm told with a 6sq ft load

Where can I find an inexpensive, freestanding (or lightly guyed),
antenna
tower? It doesn't have to support a lot of weight - a couple of small
2m radio antennas and one or two scanner antennas. And it also doesn't
have to be very tall - thirty to forty feet would be just fine. I'm
sure others would be interested in this also.


Dwight Stewart (W5NET)

http://www.qsl.net/w5net/




--
That Other George

Please send your spam to:

http://webpages.charter.net/moment/

http://webpages.charter.net/moment/winjunk.htm

THIS PLACE MIGHT BE A START if you got the surfin time for searching

http://www.fairradio.com/0mk-12.htm

12 foot Military Mast Kit. Comes with: three 47" long x 1 3/8"
fiberglass mast sections, one 8" top mast section which holds
two horizontal arial antennas and also has 16 feet of RG-58 coax
with a male BNC connection at the end, two 28" antenna elements
that thread to the top section, one guy ring with guy rope, three
9" stainless steel stakes, one 27" long mast base which mounts
directly into the ground, and O.D. green carrying bag with handle.
There is no indication of a model number on the assembly.
Excellent for field day or other portable antenna use.

12 lbs sh. #MK-12, $59.50 each; 2 for $99.50





yodar


"Dwight Stewart" wrote in message
.. .


Where can I find an inexpensive, freestanding (or lightly guyed),
antenna
tower? It doesn't have to support a lot of weight - a couple of small 2m
radio antennas and one or two scanner antennas. And it also doesn't have
to
be very tall - thirty to forty feet would be just fine. I'm sure others
would be interested in this also.


Dwight Stewart (W5NET)

http://www.qsl.net/w5net/

"Tarmo Tammaru" wrote:

My first tower consisted of 3 sections of Rohn
HBX. This gave me 24 feet. To the top of this
I added a 10 foot piece of 2 inch OD Al pipe.
This was fastened to the tower with angle iron
and U bolts at the top plate and the rotor
shelf. Somebody gave it to me. It actually
started life as a Hygain vertical. The middle
of the second section was fastened to the end
of the garage with TV house brackets. The
ground mount consisted of three pieces of pipe
driven into the ground, with 1 bag of concrete
to add some strength.


Now that is a good idea. We could just add eight or nine feet of pipe to
the top of maybe two tower sections. That would give enough height, without
breaking the bank. However, the base would have to be stronger. We live in
an area where tropical storms are routine and hurricanes are not rare. I
don't really expect it to stay up through a hurricane, but would like it to
survive most tropical storm winds. A solid concrete base, as described
elsewhere, would be better suited for the task.


BTW, have you considered a roof tower? Even a
garage roof would give you at least 12 free
feet.


Yep, the roof is out. We're leasing the commercial building and they're
very touchy about their relatively new roofing.


Dwight Stewart (W5NET)

http://www.qsl.net/w5net/

"Brian Kelly" wrote:

(snip) That's nonsense. (snip)


Not in an area with relatively routine tropical storms and the occasional
hurricane.


Dwight Stewart (W5NET)

http://www.qsl.net/w5net/

"That Other George" wrote:

I bought a 30 foot tower from my local TV shop
a few years back for $35.00 a 10 section. The
company that makes it is American Tower I think
they are in FL but a call to my local TV shop
and he still sells the stuff only the price is
now $41.00 a 10 foot section :-) (snip)


Not bad at all. I'll check around with some of the local TV shops.


Dwight Stewart (W5NET)

http://www.qsl.net/w5net/

They don't work that well and they are not free standing! And they are
cheap because in 2 years they are so rusted you can no longer use it ;-(
I've been there and done that, I wont do it again.

Radio Shack's telescoping masts work well and are cheap.

Do you need to climb it?

jw
wb9uai



That's curious, I've had on problem with rust what so ever on any of the RS
masts I've used (three total).

I've got one on the roof now for 5 years, no problems. Bottom section is run
through the access hatch, then bolted to attic floor. Holding a 5 el 6m beam
and 11e l 2m beam. Rock solid through many big winds.

jw
wb9uai
milwaukee

Please see comments below.
--
J. Mc Laughlin - Michigan USA
Home:

"Brian Kelly" wrote in message
snip

That's nonsense. If you want a properly-designed pipe mast you do it
by the numbers, not with amateur "eyeball structural engineering"
and/or broad-brush statements like "have to use some fairly thick
steel pipe . . ". You won't know a thing about any pipe sizes until
and unless you run the numbers. A 40 foot pipe mast analysis is as
simple as it gets in the field of applied mechanics, any sophomore
student in any engineering discipline including the EEs who brought
you your HT can handle the job. A pipe mast is just a classic
cantilever beam.


I agree with the essence of Brian's observation. However, I offer two
additional observations:
1. The engineering understanding of tall columns using steel has gone
through quite an evolution in my lifetime. Buckling of a vertical
cantilever beam (A.K.A. a column) is a different issue from the breaking
of an actual cantilever beam. Need to study the latest steel handbook
and the tower standard and use an appropriate safety factor that is
larger than 1. [Yes, the latter is a snide remark. People do sell
stuff with specifications that are accurate for a safety factor of one!]
2 The engineering understanding of the effects of wind has also
undergone quite an evolution. See the tower standard (222F, I think is
the last one published). Any simple relationship between "miles per
hour" and pressure is almost certain to be inappropriate. [Do not
believe most antenna manufacturer's survival ratings in terms of MPH.]

However, for the heights being discussed, the "roughness" of a typical
urban neighborhood will significantly reduce wind loading from what one
would expect using weather wind info. That fact provides an additional
safety factor that just does not exist where I have placed antennas and
towers.

I give a big Amen to Brian's observation that even EEs should be able to
run the numbers AND a big Amen to the need to run the numbers. This is
an area where one wants to check twice - or more.
73 Mac N8TT