So last year, before my shop/metal building was erected, I had all kinds of imaginations of towers and masts and all sorts of overly complicated ways to put up a scanner antenna.
Fast forward to current times, and sanity and/or reality finally kicked in. The slope of the roof of the building is a 4/12 and I just want a mount to straddle the peak.
Because the last time I tried to mount an antenna on a pitched roof, I screwed it up royally (mis-measure, welding warp...), I purchased a pre-made tripod mount.
I went up to do a test fit and the angle of the feet were making it difficult to get flat and avoid the various ribs of the steel roof.
So I slapped together a quick and dirty buck to work things out. A little massaging in the vise and they lay nice and flat now.
I have gone to great pains to avoid as many penetrations and holes in the building as possible. I'm a great fan of magnets, and have been using them extensively to mount the shop lights, decorations, etc.
So the plan here is: I ordered up some 150lb pull magnets and will be bolting 2 onto each foot. The thin steel of the roofing will bump that pull strength down, but should still be pretty "sticky".
The mast is going to be 1" EMT conduit, a 5ft piece that will be on the tripod mount, then a connector, then another 2ft piece of conduit into that (about 8ft tall to the base of the antenna.) At the connector, I'm drilling and tapping holes for (3) eyebolts to attach guy wires to. The wires will run down to more magnets to stabilize the system.
The only hole I'll be drilling is for a safety cable, so if this thing blows off it's position, at least it won't slam to the ground and destroy everything.
I'll be posting pics and commentary as I progress for the entertainment of all.
Fast forward to current times, and sanity and/or reality finally kicked in. The slope of the roof of the building is a 4/12 and I just want a mount to straddle the peak.
Because the last time I tried to mount an antenna on a pitched roof, I screwed it up royally (mis-measure, welding warp...), I purchased a pre-made tripod mount.
I went up to do a test fit and the angle of the feet were making it difficult to get flat and avoid the various ribs of the steel roof.
So I slapped together a quick and dirty buck to work things out. A little massaging in the vise and they lay nice and flat now.
I have gone to great pains to avoid as many penetrations and holes in the building as possible. I'm a great fan of magnets, and have been using them extensively to mount the shop lights, decorations, etc.
So the plan here is: I ordered up some 150lb pull magnets and will be bolting 2 onto each foot. The thin steel of the roofing will bump that pull strength down, but should still be pretty "sticky".
The mast is going to be 1" EMT conduit, a 5ft piece that will be on the tripod mount, then a connector, then another 2ft piece of conduit into that (about 8ft tall to the base of the antenna.) At the connector, I'm drilling and tapping holes for (3) eyebolts to attach guy wires to. The wires will run down to more magnets to stabilize the system.
The only hole I'll be drilling is for a safety cable, so if this thing blows off it's position, at least it won't slam to the ground and destroy everything.
I'll be posting pics and commentary as I progress for the entertainment of all.
