Antenna Mounting Advice

[Brain the Dog]

Well.... I was all set to begin the installation.... when someone begged me to check with our city Building Inspector. He said the top of the antenna cannot exceed 30 feet from the ground. If it does, I need to seek relief from the Zoning Board of Appeals, and then, if successful, get a Building Permit. This would take up to 12 weeks!!

Oh man!!!

 

[M0GVZ]

Well.... I was all set to begin the installation.... when someone begged me to check with our city Building Inspector. He said the top of the antenna cannot exceed 30 feet from the ground.

If you're putting up a horizontal beam it'll be OK, 30ft is a good height for DX. If you're putting up a vertical it'll still be OK for DX but it'll be compromised for local contacts.

 

[old goat 321]

This is what I use.

Polyphaser coax lightning protectors with a flange mount to bolt them on to copper ground rod clamp for each of my antennas. I also have 3 ground rods 8 ft. long driven down and all are tied together with 4 gauge solid copper ground wire. This is a more expensive setup costing more than your antenna, but it is rock solid and I can only hope it will work as advertised.

If not, I have a separate insurance policy that covers all my radio gear and connected equipment with full replacement value for both my home and mobile station so I completely covered either way.

If your interested, here is a link for these products.

http://www.dxengineering.com/search...4294953334&SortBy=Default&SortOrder=Ascending

 

[old goat 321]

Can the polyphaser lightning protector be mounted on a tower instead of a grounding block? My coax will be going into the house at about 18' above the ground. Can it be grounded to the tower or can i run a ground cable from it to a ground rod? This is pretty new to me. The tower and penetrator 500 will go up in the spring. Im amassing all thats needed now. Since the tower will be connected to the house with a house mount i dont want to take any chances without proper grounding

 

[old goat 321]

Can the polyphaser lightning protector be mounted on a tower instead of a grounding block? My coax will be going into the house at about 18' above the ground. Can it be grounded to the tower or can i run a ground cable from it to a ground rod? This is pretty new to me. The tower and penetrator 500 will go up in the spring. Im amassing all thats needed now. Since the tower will be connected to the house with a house mount i dont want to take any chances without proper grounding

Opps, think i found the answer, but more info is better than none.

 

[W4KVW]

This is what I use.

Polyphaser coax lightning protectors with a flange mount to bolt them on to copper ground rod clamp for each of my antennas. I also have 3 ground rods 8 ft. long driven down and all are tied together with 4 gauge solid copper ground wire. This is a more expensive setup costing more than your antenna, but it is rock solid and I can only hope it will work as advertised.

If not, I have a separate insurance policy that covers all my radio gear and connected equipment with full replacement value for both my home and mobile station so I completely covered either way.

If your interested, here is a link for these products.

http://www.dxengineering.com/search...4294953334&SortBy=Default&SortOrder=Ascending

We use this on both of our local repeater antennas on 2 meters & 440 mhz & we have had direct hits to the antennas that were destroyed yet we have never had any issues with the gear in the repeater building.That is pretty good results I think & better than any other systems I have ever seen used.Antennas we can't save but repeaters have been safe so far.Nothing is 100% lightning Proof but these have been worth the money for sure.

SIX-SHOOTER

 

[Riverman]

Six-Shooter,
There's only one way to describe your signature line.
Heaven on Earth.

 

[W4KVW]

Six-Shooter,
There's only one way to describe your signature line.
Heaven on Earth.

Well I won't lie I know I am Blessed but I waited a very long time so I could have them all.Someone will be very happy when I am gone so they may then have use of them all but until then I will take the best of care of them so the next owner will be blessed with them as well.

SIX-SHOOTER

 

[Shockwave]

Well.... I was all set to begin the installation.... when someone begged me to check with our city Building Inspector. He said the top of the antenna cannot exceed 30 feet from the ground. If it does, I need to seek relief from the Zoning Board of Appeals, and then, if successful, get a Building Permit. This would take up to 12 weeks!!

Oh man!!!

Be careful Zoning is not trying to trick you into believing a lie. Most cities in Connecticut have that same zoning rule but the deceivers at the zoning board never disclose the "exclusions" from their own rule. Even going so far as to threaten a $100 per day fine for each day the antenna remained installed in a residential zone. When I asked to see the specific code they were using against me, I was denied for a very good reason and told I would have to buy my own copy.

When I did that, it became clear why they were reluctant to be honest. In their own code book, the things specifically excluded from this rule included, flag staffs, chimneys, spires, steeples, RADIO AND TELEVISION ANTENNAS. As soon as Zoning knew that I knew their codes, all harassment stopped immediately and the antenna stood for another decade. In this case the rule was intended to be applied to the building roof height alone but is commonly misused to harass those installing antennas.

One other trick that they like to use against those installing small radio antenna towers is to require a permit to pour any cement footing. They will claim the cement around the tower base qualifies as a footing. You can get around this a number of ways. One was to just bury the base of the first section in the dirt and use a house bracket for added support or mount the base to a deck with the same house bracket. Zoning expects people to give up and not stand up for their rights. Start asking key questions that expose the BS and watch their lips zip up.

If you find Zoning has been dishonest or is incorrectly enforcing rules that they modified or fabricated, consider filing a letter of complaint with your State"s Attorney General. I've found when you can't get city officials to follow their own laws that the Attorney General's office has a keen ability of reminding them there is no other option.

 

[Slowmover]

Thanks, SW. it applies to many things.

I’ve always thought it great a neighbor was into amateur radio. Or had a tower tall enough to catch the Tyler, TX television station 90-miles from Dallas when the Cowboys were blacked out locally.

Recently came across the note about using a big hammer to whack a phone pole. Dirty electricity. Been years since I thought of that. A HAM, naturally, passed that along when I was a teen. And get the power company to work doing what they should do.

 

[Shockwave]

Recently came across the note about using a big hammer to whack a phone pole. Dirty electricity. Been years since I thought of that. A HAM, naturally, passed that along when I was a teen. And get the power company to work doing what they should do.

Wow! I like that tip. Being I've had to trace these problems down walking around with an AM radio to find the area with loose or arcing primary connections, having a way to confirm the actual pole is a welcomed addition to the fox hunt arsenal. The only thing I question is how many cars will have to pass by me before one calls 911 saying "some nut is trying to knock the phone poles down with a big hammer?" LOL.

 

[Slowmover]

Wow! I like that tip. Being I've had to trace these problems down walking around with an AM radio to find the area with loose or arcing primary connections, having a way to confirm the actual pole is a welcomed addition to the fox hunt arsenal. The only thing I question is how many cars will have to pass by me before one calls 911 saying "some nut is trying to knock the phone poles down with a big hammer?" LOL.

That was in an article on ARRL site.