Scanner Antenna Install Update..

[btritch]

This is an update to my previous posting on my scanner antenna... It used to be about 20 feet up in the previous post a long time ago, Since then it has been moved up the tower now to about 55 feet, It's only a 60 feet tower...It's picking up a little better now... Does anyone see any problems or things that need to be changed?

thanks again for look ya'll...enjoy!

 

[mancow]

Yes I see a huge problem...






It's not at my house.

 

[btritch]

Yes I see a huge problem...






It's not at my house.

I was almost suckered into saying, "What?" And I noticed the little bitty type at the bottom, LOL

That's what everyone says..

 

[rescue1017]

Now thats what I need

 

[btritch]

Now thats what I need

I'm getting on average about a 50-70 mile radius around, not including skip..and that's clear, That's not counting the Fringe area that can only be heard at night.. I love it..At this time Alton MO is talking, That's almost 100 miles from here by road, About 60 miles by air..And they're clear..

 

[N1SQB]

Very Nice!!!

I have to ask, did you climb the tower yourself or did you have someone else help you?

Either way, looks very nice!

Manny

 

[gmacka]

Thats every mans dream.......a tower !
I really like your steel mate.

 

[hoser147]

Looks good Brian, any tower base shots? What coax did ya end up running? Good Scannin Hoser

 

[N3LLO]

What antenna is at the top?

 

[RESCUE4NFD]

Nice tower...

 

[SCPD]

Where did you get the tower?

 

[btritch]

Ok, Going to try to cover everything in one reply here so here we go...


1) No, I did not climb it, I had someone else do that part, I just did the ground work and manned the base, lol

2) There's nothing at the base..I didn't do any kind of grounding scheme or anything, Just a 4x4 slab of concrete that can't be seen.. I wasnt' thinking when we put it up, the two that helped me have them, They should have known, At the time I was working second shift at work, Came in at 11AM, Went to bed at 4AM and they woke me up at 6AM to put that thing up.. So I was basically, Still zzzzzzzzzing... LOL.. So there's no grounding to it at all.. there probably should be but I don't know how to go about doing that now since it's in one spot and my meter box in on the pole about 1500 feet across the yard..Guess I'm just stuck...

3) The antenna halfway is an ST 2 scantenna which is the latest edition, This year, I had another kind up there and a tornado kind of got it back in March.. then this one went up, the other one was an older RS model, It wasn't that great anyway, This one is excellent and it's where ALL of my scanner traffic analog and digital comes from.. Now that's the one halfway.. the one at the very top is an antron 99 for all CB traffic which I'm thinking is better for Low band I'm trying to hear but at the time I have my local analog scanner in the other room hooked to it.. I already have my scantenna split twice, I hate to split it three ways, Will it hurt reception?

4) I got it from another CB buddy here in town.. I have no idea where he got it from.. He had 5 sections.. I got 4 of them, 5 would require guy wires and I didn't want to go that route so I just got 4.. It's about 65 feet to the top of the antron, about 55 feet to the top of the tower and about 50 feet to the scantenna..I'm thinking of going another 5 feet up though...

5) It's being fed with LMR 400 Coax coming into the house, Then split into a Cable TV splitter two ways to my GRE PSR 500 for digital and my pro 97 for analog...Will it hurt to split a third time?

Anything else, just ask..​

 

[CanesFan95]

If Only There Was A Drooling Emoticon...

Wow. Just wow.

 

[btritch]

More Pics..

I went and took the pictures that Hoser wanted to see, The base/ground pics.. Yes it was getting dark before I made it out to do them but I think they still serve the purpose...they're not real clear because it's dark..Let me know..

 

[Highpockets]

I went and took the pictures that Hoser wanted to see, The base/ground pics.. Yes it was getting dark before I made it out to do them but I think they still serve the purpose...they're not real clear because it's dark..Let me know..

It must be nice and cool in your house, central air & window unit. What's it about 48 in your radio room. A tower has been on my wish list for years, and most likely stay there.

 

[KC0QNB]

Brian, here is a grounding idea, since you were asleep a the wheel, and snoozed off the grounding the rebar cage thing (you did use rebar right?)
You can drive a ground rod right next to the foundation, find an electrician or tower installer that has a cadweld system, to attach the tower to the ground wire system in fact you might have a grounding expert do a site survey, this thing really needs to be grounded and quick as in yesterday.

I hope the guy you had put that scantenna that high, is a real good friend to climb up there every few months to fix/replace it.
There is one just a few blocks from me and the old one had been trashed for years, this spring they replaced it with a new one, already one of the elements with the little fork things is gone, and it is on top of a 10 mast on top of a 1 story house, nowhere near as high as yours.
Other than the scantenna it looks good!

 

[btritch]

Brian, here is a grounding idea, since you were asleep a the wheel, and snoozed off the grounding the rebar cage thing (you did use rebar right?)
You can drive a ground rod right next to the foundation, find an electrician or tower installer that has a cadweld system, to attach the tower to the ground wire system in fact you might have a grounding expert do a site survey, this thing really needs to be grounded and quick as in yesterday.

I hope the guy you had put that scantenna that high, is a real good friend to climb up there every few months to fix/replace it.
There is one just a few blocks from me and the old one had been trashed for years, this spring they replaced it with a new one, already one of the elements with the little fork things is gone, and it is on top of a 10 mast on top of a 1 story house, nowhere near as high as yours.
Other than the scantenna it looks good!

Well I'm sitting here trying to think, It's been a couple of years since it was done but I don't remember any rebar.. all I remember is digging a hole, Putting it up and pouring cement...I figured they got in a hurry doing it.. But as far as I know there's nothing there but the tower itself..

Now there was a thing that come up awhile back to ground it to the electrical system of the house at the meter, But if you'll look in the first one of those pics at the top of it there is a wire.. That's how far my meter is from the house... The fact of hammering rebar in around the tower also came into play, But yes, I've got to figure out something...

No, it's not quite 48, I figured that comment would come up. LOL, what it actually is is the house is so long that the central unit doesn't cool the entire thing well.. So we use it for the main end and window units for two or three rooms.. It usually stays anywhere from 70 to 64 in here..

 

[KC0QNB]

If you are going to dive a ground rod, get a real ground rod, then bond it to the service entrance ground, it will take some wire or better yet copper braid, how long do you think it will be?
I do not know the best way to attach the ground wire to the tower, so I will not suggest anything but the cadweld or burndyweld.

 

[btritch]

Isn't there another way... Hmmm It's been two years but I suppose it DOES need to be grounded asap... Just wish there were an easier way, i don't have any close welding friends, Don't even know if I know anyone around here that even does that or not...hmmm....

 

[KC0QNB]

Its not normal welding it is application specific read the info on the links I posted, the ground rod driving part is not that tough unless the dirt under the grass is clay, then it can be a major *****.
Call these guys they are local and ask them