help building a tower

[opp37]

im going to make a tower in the summer for my antenna

its one of those home maid pipe bomb looking thing works great for me

anyway its tiny so i thought a 2in pvc pipe or two

its cheap and lighting shouldn't be after it

but then i realize if i put two of those long pvc together how the heck will i support it and keep the wind and stuff from taking it out

the rest is easy im using high grade rg6 straight run to scanner with no breaks except antenna to cable and thinking about shrink tubing that connection i dont know if a open connection matters but i want the best reception thats why im using compression bnc connectors i always use compression i was a satellite installer and got most of my customers a 99 out of 100

i have seen and know the build towers but expensive when on very tight budget like 30 40 bucks cable is going to put way over enough


any help ideas any thing im missing or do you just think im a dumb moron

 

[reconrider8]

im in your spot also but as for rigidity why not use 2 pieces of top rail? its only like 10-15 bux a piece and its just about the same length 2 pieces would be 21' or at least thats what my plan is

 

[LtDoc]

The best advice for 'rolling your own' tower or mast is that it's always better to over-do to start with than have to re-do later. There's nothing wrong with building your own, but it does require that you have at least some experience in doing so, and the conditions you are going to have to contend with. To many variables to make guesses about so I won't.
Have fun.
- 'Doc

 

[mmckenna]

PVC will flex too much. There is a guy in our neighborhood that did that with a K40 CB antenna on top. Yep, no ground plane at all....
It's only a 10 foot piece of 2" and it's flopped over at about a 20 degree angle. If you are going to try to do 20 feet, you'll either need to switch to steel, or sleeve the PVC over some more rigid to hold it vertical. You might be able to find something like Schedule 120 PVC, which is thicker, but it won't be available from places like HomeDepot or the like.

As for grounding and lightning, you are going to want to do something. The PVC pipe itself won't necessary attract a lightning strike, but the antenna on top will, and that path will be through your receiver.
So, if you are going to need to deal with grounding anyway, you might as well go with steel and address the rigidity issues.

Good for you wanting to construct your own antenna support. I like to see people do things this way. Good luck to you in this project.

 

[opp37]

thanks all that gives me a few new steel ideas like a tepee with extension on top to make taller not that much more and the guide wires could all be ground spiks and wire just have to search menards for connectors or what comes to mind better easier cheaper or all of the above my mind is always racing with ideas i guess adhd is handy when it comes to always thinking and running ideas thanks again for so many answers and ideas also i have encase the antenna the guy said it needed a cap he never sent so i just planed on mounting it in a short piece of pvc and capping and sealing both ends good thanks again

 

[mainetrunk]

Heres a goos 1-- You know the radio shack chimney mounts? What would be the highest I could use a big steel pole like you get at homedepot. 1 inch galvanized steel. Then, putting a ferret on top of it. 3 feet would be secure at chimney height. After the strap there would be nothing to secure it. How high would be safe? I got an 8 footer there now.

 

[opp37]

yea good idea but they tore the chimney off when the landlord redid roof and furnace i missed the roof height tv tower the demolished it

so i figure look at all the pip connectors ts and whatever else and plan a shape to go up in stages to 4 or 8 the higher the harder to secure and figure out unless i just say screw it and mount some pipe some ways op the tree next to the house and put the canister with antenna on top all these ideas and some i have will help also a trip to a couple hardware stores the higher the better my town is in a big valley
or maybe save money and trouble and strap it to the top of the tree lmao

thanks guys

 

[mmckenna]

the rest is easy im using high grade rg6 straight run to scanner with no breaks except antenna to cable and thinking about shrink tubing that connection i dont know if a open connection matters but i want the best reception thats why im using compression bnc connectors i always use compression i was a satellite installer and got most of my customers a 99 out of 100

Compression connectors are good, but don't rely on them alone to seal out moisture.
If you are going to use heat shrink tubing to seal your connections, make sure you use the marine grade, adhesive lined stuff. Just plain heat shrink alone isn't enough.
Before anyone jumps in and tells you it's not OK to use that, all the connectors I buy for Heliax or LMR-400 and LMR-600 come with the adhesive lined heat shrink to seal the cable/connector joint. It works very well and will keep moisture out.

If you cannot find the adhesive lined marine grade heat shrink, use a layer of electrical tape, go over the connection from where it joins the antenna all the way down the connector to a few inches below the coax/connector joint. Half lap the tape, in other words, each turn overlaps half the previous turn. When you get to the bottom, turn around and do the half lap tape back up to the top. This is referred to as "Half lap and back". Then use the coaxial sealing tape, this is a mushy black stuff that you wrap around the connection, down past the electrical tape. Once you've done that, mold it in around everything smoothing out all the layers in a nice smooth layer. Make sure everything is covered. When that is done, wrap a layer of electrical tape around the whole mess again. If you can get ScotchKote where you are, paint the whole thing with a coat of that. It's been taken off the market here in California, but it's still available in some places.

It may sound like a pain to do that, but if you do it right, that will seal your connections and keep the water out. The first layer of tape over the connector will make it easier to take everything apart later on.

There are certainly other methods that work, and people will tell you that theirs is the ONLY way to do it correctly. That's OK, as long as it keeps the water out, you are good to go. Using just a layer of electrical tape isn't enough. Water in your coax will damage it, degrade it and lead to early failure. Don't put all this effort and money into this project and cut corners here.

 

[opp37]

thanks so much i will use those ideas i figured the outside connections had to be sealed really good plus they have bury grade rg6 and rg6 all sticky with silicone but im thinking bury because i will have to have some of the run buried but im still going to use pipe or pvc from whatever i make into the house not stop at house but into the house and then foam or silicone so the hole i drilled is sealed

 

[davedaver1]

Heres a goos 1-- You know the radio shack chimney mounts? What would be the highest I could use a big steel pole like you get at homedepot. 1 inch galvanized steel. Then, putting a ferret on top of it. 3 feet would be secure at chimney height. After the strap there would be nothing to secure it. How high would be safe? I got an 8 footer there now.

What's the ferret going to do up there?

 

[kf5bti]

Use fence top rail instead of PVC. Around here you can get 21' seconds from Lowes/HomeDepot for around $27. Shop 1-3/8-in x 21-ft Uncoated 17-Gauge Galvanized Steel Top Rail at Lowes.com

 

[opp37]

i like that on post is strong enough strap toy the house im only going like 2 feet or so off roof peak line i dont need new yok just better then on my porch just how would you connect fence posts i started yesterday thinking easy and just strap something to the stinking house and use lags to hold solid

heck makes me thing just lag one fence post roof line and maybe a wire from top of it to roof and gently put pressure on lags the put the cone with antenna on top and drop a ground ok guys thanks we got a winner

 

[mmckenna]

I used two pieces of Uni-Strut for a gable end mount one. I placed them about 6 inches apart, above and below each other. I used pipe clamps to hold a 5 foot piece of conduit and attached the antenna to that.

If you are just trying to get the antenna above your roof line, then keep it simple. Radio Shack used to sell gable end mounts for TV antenna mast. A 5 foot piece of TV antenna mast will hold a scanner antenna just fine. If you need something more, then use IMC or Rigid metallic conduit. No reason to have the support go all the way down to the ground if you don't need it to.

Sometimes simpler is better, cheaper and works just as well.

 

[opp37]

that sounds good

 

[opp37]

mmckenna pm me i like that thanks