Diamond D130J on a mast?

[ki4bbl]

I have a d130j mounted at 7 feet between two houses and under a tree. Needless to say, I barely pick up my city's digital signal. It is in and out on my Pro 106. I cannot mount a tower nor a tripod on the roof. I do, however, have my fence posts as 6x6 posts. Based on your experience, how can I attach a 30 foot mast to that 6x6? Do I have to use guy lines (My plot is fairly small)?

 

[ridgescan]

Can you side mount your 7' mast to the wall at the roofline? How far from the side of the house is the fencepost? If fairly close you could mount the 30' there and run a couple Y brackets from the wall of the house to the mast-maybe one at 12' and one at 25'. The d130j has such a low wind surface that all you'd really be bracing against would be the weight of the mast.

 

[ki4bbl]

My current mast is only 5'. It is connected directly to an existing 4x4 that is 6'. There is no house to connect to. I don't know, maybe I can just concrete a mast in? I wonder how high I can go? A tower would work, but, wow, those are expensive for a simple setup.

Greg

Can you side mount your 7' mast to the wall at the roofline? How far from the side of the house is the fencepost? If fairly close you could mount the 30' there and run a couple Y brackets from the wall of the house to the mast-maybe one at 12' and one at 25'. The d130j has such a low wind surface that all you'd really be bracing against would be the weight of the mast.

 

[GKolo]

I have mine mounted on top of 2 top rail fence post, It gives me 24 feet to the top of the diamond, I have it secured at the 8 foot level to the facia board of the house. I would not go any higher with the top rail but it is secure and has been up for 2 years.

 

[Rt169Radio]

I have my D-130J on a 20-21 feet long 3 section metal poles that are slid into a fence pole,I also guy wired it with strong rope in 3 sections for extra sturdyness.I like it like that because its fairly easy to get down and put up.

 

[Fast1eddie]

Get it up there high and out in the open if you expect optimal results with 800. You don't mention what type of coax you are using, I like Belden 9913 flexible or equivalent. Check out the Wireman, he's got excellent prices and quality cable. Finally, go over your RF connections and get away from PL 259's and go with N's. Pricey yes, but 800 behaves in a manner similar to that of microwaves. When properly installed, N connectors exhibit a constant impedence which means signal loss is minimized. Keep your cable run short and direct with no sudden bends-you'll want to form a gradual bend. Lots of excellent RF theory in the ARRL publications and on this site.

Good Signals!

 

[ki4bbl]

I'm using rg 58 from radio shack. It's not what I use for CW, but I figured for scanning, losses are not as profound or impacting as working qrp. haha, I am going to have to revise that logic. If I get the antenna up 30-35ft, I will need to have a 100' run of coax.

 

[Rt169Radio]

I'm using rg 58 from radio shack. It's not what I use for CW, but I figured for scanning, losses are not as profound or impacting as working qrp. haha, I am going to have to revise that logic. If I get the antenna up 30-35ft, I will need to have a 100' run of coax.

RG-58 is very high loss coax,it would be even worse on a 100' run of coax.I recommend using RG-8U coax,that is a low loss coax

This coax calculator is helpful when figuring out coax runs.

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