Scantenna Antenna / Need advice plz

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cnmsales

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Ok I think I have decided to purchase me a scantenna antenna as I want to be able to cover the largest majority of freqs and from reading this is my best option. Some questions first.

Am I going to loose to much signal with the 50 ft of cable that comes with this item.

How deep do I need to place the antenna mast pole im going to have. Im going to use a tv antenna pole that i have and just move the thing.

How high up should i need to go to get optimal performance out of this antenna.



Thanks in advance for answering these questions.
 

hsdtech

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50 ft. of RG-6 is nothing to worry about. If you can try and get some better RG-6 cable than the one you will get with the antenna. But it's not absolutely necessary.

How deep for the mast pole? Do you mean how deep to put it in the ground? I have my 30 ft. push up pole about 1 1/2 feet in the ground, then bolted to the eve of my house. So at least 1 foot, but 2 ft. would be better and try to mount it where you can also use brackets to attach it to your house, building, shed, whatever.

How high? The higher the better. At least 15 feet, but 30 feet or more would be great if you can get it up that high.

BTW, Lowes sells a 30 ft. telescoping push up pole (mast) for $44 that works great.

Good Luck.
 

cnmsales

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Well then that all but settles it. I dont think I will end up using the entire 50ft of cable anyway, probably more like 25 ft when its all said and done so I should be more than ok.

Now the next question. Where is the best place tp purchas this antenna from? Id like to get the best price I can but will sacrifice on that a bit in order to get it from someone reputable thats not going to screw me over.

If possible id like to get it locally however looking online I dont know how possible that is.
 

cnmsales

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Anyone else wana vouch for this company? Or point me in another direction. That is a good price but is that for the older model or newer model?
 

hsdtech

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Antenna Warehouse is where I bought mine. I've bought several antennas from them and they always ship fast and I have never had any problems.
 

cnmsales

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Im debating on getting a new pole mount or not. The one I have im pretty sure is the 15 foot one. will this be ok or am i going to loose out on alot? I can get the one from lowes at 30 ft but want to make sure the quality is going to be there. Am I going to have to worry about the antenna weighing it down to much and bending it over bad? Or is this scantenna antenna light weight?
 

cnmsales

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And just so im clear, this mast from lowes is something I would be able to burryy directly into the ground then secure it at the top most part or my roof?
 

hsdtech

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I have my scantenna at about 15 ft. only because of all of my ham antennas. Right now I am using 2 Lowes (actually Channel Master) poles.
I plan on putting up my 60 ft. tower in about a month or two, so then I will have my scantenna up a LOT higher. But at 15 ft. I receive LOTS of traffic, especially MilAir (almost non stop traffic).
The Channel Master pole is very well built, made of steel. It also has 3 guy rings so you can attach guy wires if you need. The scantenna is a very light antenna and you will definitely won't have to worry about it's weight on the pole. You can even buy a 5 or 10 foot antenna mast in addition to the pole to get extra height. A ham friend of mine did this with a dual band J-Pole antenna and has it about 45 feet.
Yes the pole can be buried right in the ground. Use a post hole digger or sharpshooter shovel to dig the hole so it will be nice and narrow. Try to get it at least 2 feet if you can. Then you can use mounting brackets to attach to the pole at a higher point.
With you only using the scantenna I wouldn't worry about guy wires.
I only have one of mine guyed, but because I have an 11 ft. 2m beam on top of a rotator on a mast on the top of the pole.
But remember, the higher you get it up the more RG-6 you will need.

NOTE: GROUND the push up pole at the bottom using hose clamps and at least 6 guage copper wire to an 8 ft. ground rod pounded in right by the base of the pole. The wire should only need to be about 12 inches long at the most.
If lightning hits the antenna or mast you want that strike to go down the pole, through the copper wire to the ground rod into the ground.

TIP: Use a spray can plastic cap or something else to put over the top of the pole. You want to keep rain water from going down the inside of the pole and making the hole you will dig from holding water.
 

hsdtech

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By the way, is the 15 ft. mast you have now mounted on top of your roof? If so you could mount the scantenna on it. Even if it isn't you could probably still be able to mount that mast somewhere on your roof.
Just a thought.
 

cnmsales

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Nah thats not an option, im married. LOL. I think for now im going to just move the tv antenna pole I have and reuse it for the scantenna. I would like to get a taller pole eventually for this though.
 

Grivo

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I can vouch for Stark Electronics at least for my recent (3 weeks ago) Scantenna purchase. I got it quick and it was well packaged.

The Scantenna should work well no matter who you buy it from.
 

cnmsales

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I saw this posted overat SS and wanted to get feedback. Would it be feasable to mount the scantenna to PVC pide instead od a metal pole? I would have it bracketed to the house roof. Or is this just plain out a bad idea.
 

mancow

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It's a plain bad idea. There would be no grounding and the PVC would degrade in the sunlight. It would warp like hell too.

I got my scantenna from antenna warehouse and they shipped by DHL. I ordered it Wednesday and it arrived Friday. Even the DHL site had it scheduled for the next Tuesday but somehow it showed up 3-4 days early.
 

mancow

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Copper is horribly expensive anymore and with the way people are you just might find it missing some day! : ) Also, it's not all that strong.



I just finished a setup similar to what you are thinking about.

I used two pieces of 10 foot electrical conduit EMT tubing 1 1/2" in size. I burried half a 3 foot steel pipe in the ground in some concrete and the lower pipe slides over it. It is connected to the other one with just a regular coupler made for conduit. The pipes are secured to the house in a couple of places with that flat metal strapping you can get at the hardware store in 4 or 8 foot sections. I bent the strapping around the pipe and used lag bolts to secure it to the house. The top of it is secured to the edge of the roof eave with a couple of conduit hanging straps.

The conduit is galvenized but I went ahead and painted it with some auto primer and then some gloss grey.

The coupler isn't all that strong in and of itself but the pressure is mostly strait down and the other clamps and parts keep the side motion under control.

The stuff wasn't all that expensive. I think I got it all for under $100 if I remember right. I just kind of pieced it together over time and put it all up at once.

At the top I have a RadioShack rotator with two of those 5 foot poles they sell there that slip over each other. I have a 5 element dual band Cushcraft beam, 7 element 800 beam, scantenna, and a discone at the top.

So far it seems to work fine. When I get some time I will take some pics and post them.
 
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cnmsales

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Sure thing, but like i said now i think im going to mount it to the top of my ease and not run a pole all the way down. Im thinking it would be cheaper to do it this way, wanting someone who has done something like this to give me advice on what they used to mount to the house.
 
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