Fence rail for scanner antenna mounting

[NYAirOne]

Anyone use the thin upper metal fence rail for mounting a outdoor scanner antenna? Right now I have 2 older radio shack 10ft mast poles together. It's been up in the Western NY weather for about 13 years now. Putting up a new antenna and was thinking of the fence rail so I can have 1 piece of pipe and maybe get it up alittle higher. Anyone try this or is there a better idea? Thanks

 

[W9WSS]

I have an Alpha Delta DX-CC multi-band dipole attached to a 10' piece of heavy-wall conduit clamped to a fence post. It's been up 10+ years without any issues. I've attached photos of both ends and the center of the dipole. The opposite end is attached to a screw-in eyelet to a tree in my front yard. Sorry about the quality of the photos.

 

[merlin]

If you can clam your masts to the vertical post that works well. I have done it with 30 foot mast with a discone on top and TV antenna below that.

 

[vagrant]

How much higher? It may not be worth it unless the current height is not clearing nearby structures like your house, or your neighbor's home.
Consider this, the theoretical Line Of Sight at 20 feet is six miles. At 30 feet it is eight miles. It may or may not be worth the cost/hassle...presuming this is for VHF/UHF terrestrial monitoring.

Anyone use the thin upper metal fence rail for mounting a outdoor scanner antenna? Right now I have 2 older radio shack 10ft mast poles together. It's been up in the Western NY weather for about 13 years now. Putting up a new antenna and was thinking of the fence rail so I can have 1 piece of pipe and maybe get it up alittle higher. Anyone try this or is there a better idea? Thanks

 

[NYAirOne]

What I'm trying to do is have a one piece mast instead of 2 masts bolted together to be more sturdy in high winds and the weather. We just had 2 wind storms about a week apart. Last one had gusts of 65 mph +. My setup has made it through all kinds of winds and some blizzards here in NY for over 12 years. I'm not bolting it to my fence. I have it mounted on the side of my house between a lower patio roof and the upper main house roof. Antenna itself is about 30 ft in the air. Would like to get a 24ft section of one piece fence rail pipe to have a more solid mast and alittle more height above my roof. Was wondering if anyone has used the fence type rail pipe or something else better?

 

[mmckenna]

I've never used fence top rail pipe, but I've heard others doing it and it works well if it's secured correctly.

I have an extremely remote site I periodically service that used a 20' section of irrigation pipe. It's stood up through hurricane force winds and survived a wild fire.

I have used rigid conduit for some short masts.
I even used 1 1/4" EMT conduit.

For most stuff that hobbyists do, those are all something that will work fine if you use your brain, anchor it well, and make sure it doesn't fall on:
Your neighbors house
Power lines
Your neighbors dog.
Your neighbor.

If you are putting up a small VHF/UHF ham or scanner antenna, it's probably good enough. If you are trying to support a 3 band HF beam antenna, you'll want something better.