Outdoor staging for antenna installation...anything more I should do?

[TrainsOfThought]

Hello Everyone.

FINALLY...over last winter I assembled my Serio yagi and Diamond F23H antennas w/coax and connector. My long-planned goal is to experiment with receive-only rail band radio over my scanner(s) with me being retirement residing in the middle of the DelMarva peninsula of Maryland. I want to determine if omni directional and/or directional (from the Wilmington area) makes any difference.

I had to get these out of the garage/workshop. It will be a few months until installation by a local antenna company. I have planned upgrades in the works first to the brick chimney (already inspected) for re-pointing, new cap and sealing as well as tree pruning.

The unconnected coax ends are wrapped in 3M 1700 tape + Coax-Wrap, coiled with the free coax cable in tool boxes awaiting installation and then me starting grounding/bonding prior to connection to radios. Will I receive anything?...that's the million dollar question but it's fun to play, explore and experimenting with scanners and antennas again after all these years

Is there anything else I should take into consideration while these antennas, coax and dead-end connectors are staged in the back yard awaiting installation in mid summer?

I've flow-charted and mapped-out every bit of this multi-year process. Everyone here at RR has been a godsend getting me this far...a far cry from my 80-90's days.

 

[prcguy]

You will need to secure the coax to the mast and Ty-Raps are ok but don't cinch them up too tight. Since UV will eventually kill them I usually put a layer of Scotch 33+ tape over the Ty-Raps and they seem to live forever. You might also need something to secure the coax to the building when it goes over the roof edge and down and there are coax nails for RG-59, RG-6 and RG-11 that will fit most 50 ohm coax.

I also paint all my antennas which extends their life by many years. If you are in a dry area you might be ok but if it rains a lot or your near the ocean I would put a few coats of semi gloss grey or something that blends in with the sky or surrounding foliage. Flat paints don't seem to last as long and my favorite is Winter Grey Rustoleum, the kind with no built in primer. That stuff lasts a long time.

BTW, I have the same Sirio Yagi and its got several coats of winter grey. Nice antenna!

 

[TrainsOfThought]

I also paint all my antennas which extends their life by many years. If you are in a dry area you might be ok but if it rains a lot or your near the ocean I would put a few coats of semi gloss grey or something that blends in with the sky or surrounding foliage. Flat paints don't seem to last as long and my favorite is Winter Grey Rustoleum, the kind with no built in primer. That stuff lasts a long time.

It's funny you mention painting the antennas...

The Sirio yagi (to be on the same mast and directly below the Diamond F23H) will be pointed N/NE (toward Wilmington DE) which will be directly AT my retired police undercover detective neighbor's house.

A real odd fellow...he's always been obsessively paranoid about "people". He moved across the subdivision to this house to be SLIGHTLY farther from the neighbors, never talks or even interacts with anyone and freaks-out about anything going on near his house. He had issues with my tree contractors that have to work the property line, me mowing the grass along the fence and calling the cops on a friend's car that parked in front of his house during the holiday (guess he figured there might be a bomb in it LOL).

I told my wife last week that he'll probably tie-his-colon-in-knots and FREAK-OUT seeing a big directional antenna pointed RIGHT AT his house. I love some of the Camo colored spray paint I've used for model railroading so exploring the paint aisle at the Town hardware store is in order. Thanks for the advice!!

 

[prcguy]

It's funny you mention painting the antennas...

The Sirio yagi (to be on the same mast and directly below the Diamond F23H) will be pointed N/NE (toward Wilmington DE) which will be directly AT my retired police undercover detective neighbor's house.

A real odd fellow...he's always been obsessively paranoid about "people". He moved across the subdivision to this house to be SLIGHTLY farther from the neighbors, never talks or even interacts with anyone and freaks-out about anything going on near his house. He had issues with my tree contractors that have to work the property line, me mowing the grass along the fence and calling the cops on a friend's car that parked in front of his house during the holiday (guess he figured there might be a bomb in it LOL).

I told my wife last week that he'll probably tie-his-colon-in-knots and FREAK-OUT seeing a big directional antenna pointed RIGHT AT his house. I love some of the Camo colored spray paint I've used for model railroading so exploring the paint aisle at the Town hardware store is in order. Thanks for the advice!!

I would not only point the antenna in your neighbors direction, point it downward at his place for maximum effect.

 

[vagrant]

Tin Foil Hat = Nothing gets out...and nothing gets in

Once you have things up and running, if you have intermittent noise/static it may be from a nearby paging system around 152 MHz. Additionally, local FM broadcast stations can be unfriendly as well. Perhaps consider a "bandpass" filter that covers the specific frequencies you plan for rail monitoring, or at least covers that range. There are also "notch" filters to attenuate unfriendly RF like a paging system. Still, you may not have any issues, but it is something to consider later on.

 

[MUTNAV]

It's funny you mention painting the antennas...

The Sirio yagi (to be on the same mast and directly below the Diamond F23H) will be pointed N/NE (toward Wilmington DE) which will be directly AT my retired police undercover detective neighbor's house.

A real odd fellow...he's always been obsessively paranoid about "people". He moved across the subdivision to this house to be SLIGHTLY farther from the neighbors, never talks or even interacts with anyone and freaks-out about anything going on near his house. He had issues with my tree contractors that have to work the property line, me mowing the grass along the fence and calling the cops on a friend's car that parked in front of his house during the holiday (guess he figured there might be a bomb in it LOL).

I told my wife last week that he'll probably tie-his-colon-in-knots and FREAK-OUT seeing a big directional antenna pointed RIGHT AT his house. I love some of the Camo colored spray paint I've used for model railroading so exploring the paint aisle at the Town hardware store is in order. Thanks for the advice!!

I would not only point the antenna in your neighbors direction, point it downward at his place for maximum effect.

Personally I wouldn't go out of my way to provoke crazy people.... I would suggest if he comes out and talks with you about it, I would say something like,

"Actually I had to mount my antenna the way it is because your house is in the way of what I'm trying to receive."

or something like that.

Thanks
Joel

 

[MUTNAV]

Hello Everyone.

FINALLY...over last winter I assembled my Serio yagi and Diamond F23H antennas w/coax and connector. My long-planned goal is to experiment with receive-only rail band radio over my scanner(s) with me being retirement residing in the middle of the DelMarva peninsula of Maryland. I want to determine if omni directional and/or directional (from the Wilmington area) makes any difference.

I had to get these out of the garage/workshop. It will be a few months until installation by a local antenna company. I have planned upgrades in the works first to the brick chimney (already inspected) for re-pointing, new cap and sealing as well as tree pruning.

The unconnected coax ends are wrapped in 3M 1700 tape + Coax-Wrap, coiled with the free coax cable in tool boxes awaiting installation and then me starting grounding/bonding prior to connection to radios. Will I receive anything?...that's the million dollar question but it's fun to play, explore and experimenting with scanners and antennas again after all these years

Is there anything else I should take into consideration while these antennas, coax and dead-end connectors are staged in the back yard awaiting installation in mid summer?

I've flow-charted and mapped-out every bit of this multi-year process. Everyone here at RR has been a godsend getting me this far...a far cry from my 80-90's days.View attachment 182893View attachment 182894

Slightly O.T., but maybe you would also be interested in monitoring ship traffic with AIS. I kind of sounds like a good location for it.

Thanks
Joel

 

[Ubbe]

The F23 comes tuned to 144MHz so I hope you have it cut to the RR frequencies, as well as AIS at almost the exact same frequency. You can experiment with your antennas at ground level comparing receive quality from a handheld scanner and pointing the yagi in different directions and also move both antennas around on your lot. Just a few feet can make a big difference, as well as on the roof but there I guess you are stuck to that chimney location. The F23 works satisfactory on a lot of frequencies, even in the UHF band, and certainly compared to any indoor antenna.

/Ubbe