First you've got to ask yourself: If there is a nearby lightning strike, and it blows the pre-amp up on the mast, can I get it down easily to replace it? My opinion from working with weak signal SSB/CW ham type stuff on 6,2, and 432 .... unless you're 100% hardcore in copying the weakest of the weak signals, then I would just put one in the shack. SO much easier to swap in/out or fix when broken, and it still helps copy the weaker signals. Don't get me wrong, I'm still PRO pre-amps, but just use it in the shack.