Still a work in progress...

[6meter]

I do have a couple old house brackets and some spare angle iron laying around. For extra security it might be a project for this spring.

That tower represents a lot of your hard work and I hope brings you a ton of good DX.

Also just to be clear not trying to be snarky about your project..

Just looking at the wind load of the antenna plus including the wind load and weight of the mast and coax. Also thinking about two yagis that can torque the tower from side to side in the wind. Then the roughly 14 foot of mast above the tower and the 24 foot Imax gives a lot of vertical height for the tower to hold against wind.

 

[Blackcat630]

That tower represents a lot of your hard work and I hope brings you a ton of good DX.

Also just to be clear not trying to be snarky about your project..

Just looking at the wind load of the antenna plus including the wind load and weight of the mast and coax. Also thinking about two yagis that can torque the tower from side to side in the wind. Then the roughly 14 foot of mast above the tower and the 24 foot Imax gives a lot of vertical height for the tower to hold against wind.

No "snarkieness taken" I appreciate your observation. I have considered the house bracket as a future project before the summer storm season arrives. One good thing is usually all the winds we get come out of the west so if it ever did fall it would come down on my house and not my neighbors. I would HATE to see this happen however so some structural reinforcement is definitely something to consider!

 

[Strictly Business]

I'm one who appreciates attention to detail and I have to say I'm impressed with yours. Very nice looking setup all the way around.

 

[my2995dx]

Looks good i know i have to fix mine this spring it rusted through all 3 legs that are cemented into ground but there is enought to weld it just got to fiqure out how I want to do it

No "snarkieness taken" I appreciate your observation. I have considered the house bracket as a future project before the summer storm season arrives. One good thing is usually all the winds we get come out of the west so if it ever did fall it would come down on my house and not my neighbors. I would HATE to see this happen however so some structural reinforcement is definitely something to consider!

 

[Sonar]

Come April I have been a member for 4 yrs. Couple yrs ago I posted some pics of the install of my old honda. I figured it's time to share some pics and info on my home setup. This is, as the title of thread suggests, a work in progress. It's been about 3 yrs in the making and not complete yet. Lots of hard work, time, $...ect.. I'm very thankful for the help of my radio friends both new guys and elmers. View attachment 20110Lots of digging by hand. Did it by my self over a couple weeks with limited time off work. My neighbors house is close so no room to leave a big dirt pile in my yard. Everything I shoveled out went into the bed of my truck and had to be hauled off. This pic is about 3/4 complete. Hole ended up at about 4x5 and 5ft deep. Bottom 6in was lined with gravel for tower leg drainage. View attachment 20111After all that I had my concrete pored from a truck. Wasn't about to mix that many bags of sack create!! View attachment 20112It turned out pretty well. I then ran out of warm weather and time off work so it sat till next spring. I then took the rest of the tower (rohn 45) and gave it a coat of paint. When I aquired the tower it was black so I decided to repaint it. I propped up the sections on saw horses and my fence, got a gallon of chain link fence paint, a wash mitt and went to town. Note: always wear a elbow length heavy duty rubber glove under the wash mitt unless you want a silver hand! Painted 4 sections and nose cone in under an hour. View attachment 20113I don't have any pics of the tower raising day probably because I was on the tower most of the time. 3 guys and a gin pole and it actually went pretty smoothly. Putting up the mast (24ft schedule 80) and ma5b was a different story. It was tricky and we had to be careful not to destroy the beam pulling it up between the two houses and around the cable line. It all came together but it was a really long couple of Saturdays. One weekend was spent building stand offs, running coax and other odds and ends. The next was spent putting up the stuff I couldn't do by myself. The finished product turned out great. All the hard work was definitely worth it. At the bottom working up I have a discone at around 30 ft for the scanner. Next up at 36ft a comet 333 tri band vertical for 2m/220/440. Next we have the stand off for the g5rv at about 45ft. Each leg runs down to about 15 ft above ground. On the mast is the cushcraft ma5b 20-10 beam, boom at about 48ft. Next up at about 58View attachment 20116 ft is a cushcraft 13b2. At the top is a Imax 2000 at 61ft to the choke/feed point View attachment 20117 View attachment 20119 Here is a pic of the desk. Consists of: Kenwood TS 2000 w sp 23 & mc 60. TYT 9000 220, tyt 7800 2m/440. Bearcat 9000. Comet hf-uhf meter. Control box for the G800 yaesu rotor. Emperor 5010, connex 4800, galaxy 2527 silver eagle D104 and the old 4 pill/power supply. View attachment 20120 Future plans are to use the old tv antenna tower next to the house to hold a 6m beam. Also want to build/learn more wire antennas. Get my Extra!! General is great but I would like full privileges and eventually a shorter/vanity call. Was bored tonight and just thought I would share ....73 all

Excellent job my friend. The cement looks smoother than a baby's ass. The fact that you topped off that wonderful looking behemoth with a IMAX 2000 says a lot for that antenna. Excellent excellent excellent job. Congratulations. Nice station setup also. I have one of those boomer amplifiers. 4 x 1446 Palomar branded. Most if not all 11 meter amplifiers get a bad rap and rightfully deserved, but my experience with it has been very good. I use it for a backup. Never get any complaints as far as splatter or RFI to the neighbors. I once owned 4 of them. Sorry I sold 3 of them. I should have held onto two instead of one. You did a great job and I hope you are enjoying the fruits of your labor. 73 PS my iMac is about 7ft off the ground and I don't envey but surely would love to get my 2000 at the height of yours. Half the height would suffice but it's not possible. I'm happy with the 7ft. I could've been using a patio dipole at 3ft 8n height and am sure people have exactly that.

 

[Blackcat630]

Looks good i know i have to fix mine this spring it rusted through all 3 legs that are cemented into ground but there is enought to weld it just got to fiqure out how I want to do it

Bummer! I have seen the install of tv antenna towers where they concreted the base even with the surrounding ground. Water then pooled up at the legs. Over time this rusted out the tower. Always a good idea to pour the concrete and have it raised up above ground level. Take 4 2x4s nail them together around your hole as a form.. Anyways...hopefully you can get something figured out. Good luck

 

[Blackcat630]

Excellent job my friend. The cement looks smoother than a baby's ass. The fact that you topped off that wonderful looking behemoth with a IMAX 2000 says a lot for that antenna. Excellent excellent excellent job. Congratulations. Nice station setup also. I have one of those boomer amplifiers. 4 x 1446 Palomar branded. Most if not all 11 meter amplifiers get a bad rap and rightfully deserved, but my experience with it has been very good. I use it for a backup. Never get any complaints as far as splatter or RFI to the neighbors. I once owned 4 of them. Sorry I sold 3 of them. I should have held onto two instead of one. You did a great job and I hope you are enjoying the fruits of your labor. 73 PS my iMac is about 7ft off the ground and I don't envey but surely would love to get my 2000 at the height of yours. Half the height would suffice but it's not possible. I'm happy with the 7ft. I could've been using a patio dipole at 3ft 8n height and am sure people have exactly that.

Thanks sonar! The cement turned out pretty good...wouldn't put say it's that smooth but it works. My buddy's dad is a brick layer and we had our pick of a variety of trowels. I realize that the Imax is not the best 11m vertical available but I needed something that will stay together at height and I like the fact that it's broadbaned. It's nice to have the ability to switch from horizontal to vertical on the higher hf bands. On 11m I have guys spread out in about a 30-40 mile radius and I have no problem chatting w them barefoot. I appreciate your comments. 73

 

[ISLAND MAN]

Come April I have been a member for 4 yrs. Couple yrs ago I posted some pics of the install of my old honda. I figured it's time to share some pics and info on my home setup. This is, as the title of thread suggests, a work in progress. It's been about 3 yrs in the making and not complete yet. Lots of hard work, time, $...ect.. I'm very thankful for the help of my radio friends both new guys and elmers. View attachment 20110Lots of digging by hand. Did it by my self over a couple weeks with limited time off work. My neighbors house is close so no room to leave a big dirt pile in my yard. Everything I shoveled out went into the bed of my truck and had to be hauled off. This pic is about 3/4 complete. Hole ended up at about 4x5 and 5ft deep. Bottom 6in was lined with gravel for tower leg drainage. View attachment 20111After all that I had my concrete pored from a truck. Wasn't about to mix that many bags of sack create!! View attachment 20112It turned out pretty well. I then ran out of warm weather and time off work so it sat till next spring. I then took the rest of the tower (rohn 45) and gave it a coat of paint. When I aquired the tower it was black so I decided to repaint it. I propped up the sections on saw horses and my fence, got a gallon of chain link fence paint, a wash mitt and went to town. Note: always wear a elbow length heavy duty rubber glove under the wash mitt unless you want a silver hand! Painted 4 sections and nose cone in under an hour. View attachment 20113I don't have any pics of the tower raising day probably because I was on the tower most of the time. 3 guys and a gin pole and it actually went pretty smoothly. Putting up the mast (24ft schedule 80) and ma5b was a different story. It was tricky and we had to be careful not to destroy the beam pulling it up between the two houses and around the cable line. It all came together but it was a really long couple of Saturdays. One weekend was spent building stand offs, running coax and other odds and ends. The next was spent putting up the stuff I couldn't do by myself. The finished product turned out great. All the hard work was definitely worth it. At the bottom working up I have a discone at around 30 ft for the scanner. Next up at 36ft a comet 333 tri band vertical for 2m/220/440. Next we have the stand off for the g5rv at about 45ft. Each leg runs down to about 15 ft above ground. On the mast is the cushcraft ma5b 20-10 beam, boom at about 48ft. Next up at about 58View attachment 20116 ft is a cushcraft 13b2. At the top is a Imax 2000 at 61ft to the choke/feed point View attachment 20117 View attachment 20119 Here is a pic of the desk. Consists of: Kenwood TS 2000 w sp 23 & mc 60. TYT 9000 220, tyt 7800 2m/440. Bearcat 9000. Comet hf-uhf meter. Control box for the G800 yaesu rotor. Emperor 5010, connex 4800, galaxy 2527 silver eagle D104 and the old 4 pill/power supply. View attachment 20120 Future plans are to use the old tv antenna tower next to the house to hold a 6m beam. Also want to build/learn more wire antennas. Get my Extra!! General is great but I would like full privileges and eventually a shorter/vanity call. Was bored tonight and just thought I would share ....73 all

very nice setup congrats 73

 

[Mike Hannahs MH261]

Come April I have been a member for 4 yrs. Couple yrs ago I posted some pics of the install of my old honda. I figured it's time to share some pics and info on my home setup. This is, as the title of thread suggests, a work in progress. It's been about 3 yrs in the making and not complete yet. Lots of hard work, time, $...ect.. I'm very thankful for the help of my radio friends both new guys and elmers. View attachment 20110Lots of digging by hand. Did it by my self over a couple weeks with limited time off work. My neighbors house is close so no room to leave a big dirt pile in my yard. Everything I shoveled out went into the bed of my truck and had to be hauled off. This pic is about 3/4 complete. Hole ended up at about 4x5 and 5ft deep. Bottom 6in was lined with gravel for tower leg drainage. View attachment 20111After all that I had my concrete pored from a truck. Wasn't about to mix that many bags of sack create!! View attachment 20112It turned out pretty well. I then ran out of warm weather and time off work so it sat till next spring. I then took the rest of the tower (rohn 45) and gave it a coat of paint. When I aquired the tower it was black so I decided to repaint it. I propped up the sections on saw horses and my fence, got a gallon of chain link fence paint, a wash mitt and went to town. Note: always wear a elbow length heavy duty rubber glove under the wash mitt unless you want a silver hand! Painted 4 sections and nose cone in under an hour. View attachment 20113I don't have any pics of the tower raising day probably because I was on the tower most of the time. 3 guys and a gin pole and it actually went pretty smoothly. Putting up the mast (24ft schedule 80) and ma5b was a different story. It was tricky and we had to be careful not to destroy the beam pulling it up between the two houses and around the cable line. It all came together but it was a really long couple of Saturdays. One weekend was spent building stand offs, running coax and other odds and ends. The next was spent putting up the stuff I couldn't do by myself. The finished product turned out great. All the hard work was definitely worth it. At the bottom working up I have a discone at around 30 ft for the scanner. Next up at 36ft a comet 333 tri band vertical for 2m/220/440. Next we have the stand off for the g5rv at about 45ft. Each leg runs down to about 15 ft above ground. On the mast is the cushcraft ma5b 20-10 beam, boom at about 48ft. Next up at about 58View attachment 20116 ft is a cushcraft 13b2. At the top is a Imax 2000 at 61ft to the choke/feed point View attachment 20117 View attachment 20119 Here is a pic of the desk. Consists of: Kenwood TS 2000 w sp 23 & mc 60. TYT 9000 220, tyt 7800 2m/440. Bearcat 9000. Comet hf-uhf meter. Control box for the G800 yaesu rotor. Emperor 5010, connex 4800, galaxy 2527 silver eagle D104 and the old 4 pill/power supply. View attachment 20120 Future plans are to use the old tv antenna tower next to the house to hold a 6m beam. Also want to build/learn more wire antennas. Get my Extra!! General is great but I would like full privileges and eventually a shorter/vanity call. Was bored tonight and just thought I would share ....73 all

That's one heck of a set up, I am planning on installing a tower soon as I get enough green saved up to buy one, I'm going to go 40 feet I believe but I'm unsure, I to have the bearcat scanner you have I'm looking at antennas for that and I have a a99 antenna but I'd like to get me a beam as well I'm new to this world so I'm learning about this stuff, I always thought people used a99s or something similar then I hear everyone on radio talking about beams and I'm over like what? Hahah thanks for posting this up its going to help me out

 

[Sonar]

That's one heck of a set up, I am planning on installing a tower soon as I get enough green saved up to buy one, I'm going to go 40 feet I believe but I'm unsure, I to have the bearcat scanner you have I'm looking at antennas for that and I have a a99 antenna but I'd like to get me a beam as well I'm new to this world so I'm learning about this stuff, I always thought people used a99s or something similar then I hear everyone on radio talking about beams and I'm over like what? Hahah thanks for posting this up its going to help me out

You did state that you are a newbie. I am a newbie and always will be as far as technically speaking. My interest in learning is very limited when it comes to radio communications. I will say this. A bean is not anything like a vertical a 99, IMAX 2000, Maco 5/8 wigs etc etc. It takes someone with a bit of knowledge to not only install it but adjust certain aspects of what beam and Tenors have that put up and talk in tennis don't. Gamma match etc etc. Stick with a vertical if you want to enjoy the hobby without ripping your hair out. There are Multi Band verticals available and even the IMAX 2000 and a 99 for that matter will operate I believe 10 11 and 12 and possibly 15 with an antenna tuner. I'm assuming if you're a newbie and you get your ham ticket you will be getting your technicians license first and then after a while of studying go for and hopefully get your general class. The general class will allow you much more freedom to travel around the HF band. When that happens you will need different antennas or a single decent antenna with a tuner either built-in or externally attached. Beans are great and I would probably give the tip of my right Pinky to own one. No room and way too much maintenance. If your working DX or locally with your A99 stick with it for now. You will enjoy the hobby without getting old quickly. Beams are very complicated antenna systems and with little knowledge can become a nightmare and make the hobby very cumbersome.

 

[Mike Hannahs MH261]

Thanks for the info and advice I'm definitely new to the radio world, I grew up around radios my dad was a huge radio guy, right now I'm just using a cb radio on 11 meters, it's a cobra 23 plus that was givin to me from a guy at work, it's a good clean sounding radio to, it's a stock radio with the modulation turned up some, I get good reports back never had a bad one yet, you are definitely right about sticking with the set up I have is far as a antenna goes, I'm not wanting complicated things added to the hobby I just want to set up and play so I'm glad you told me this because I would probably rip my hair out and said forget about it, I am thinking about the ham thing, I was given a connex radio with the ham bands on it, I've never yet heard anyone talking on those frequencies but I'm sure they are out there, I listen a lot for ham operators to talk for fun

 

[Needle Bender]

...but adjust certain aspects of what beam and Tenors have that put up and talk in tennis don't.

LOL, Are you using a voice to text or a text autocorrect program?

I'm sure "and Tenors" is obviously 'Antennas' as is "in tennis"

Thanks for the info and advice I'm definitely new to the radio world, I grew up around radios my dad was a huge radio guy, right now I'm just using a cb radio on 11 meters, it's a cobra 23 plus that was givin to me from a guy at work, it's a good clean sounding radio to, it's a stock radio with the modulation turned up some, I get good reports back never had a bad one yet, you are definitely right about sticking with the set up I have is far as a antenna goes, I'm not wanting complicated things added to the hobby I just want to set up and play so I'm glad you told me this because I would probably rip my hair out and said forget about it, I am thinking about the ham thing, I was given a connex radio with the ham bands on it, I've never yet heard anyone talking on those frequencies but I'm sure they are out there, I listen a lot for ham operators to talk for fun

I'm curious what "and tenor" your using

 

[n8fgb]

Thanks for the info and advice I'm definitely new to the radio world, I grew up around radios my dad was a huge radio guy, right now I'm just using a cb radio on 11 meters, it's a cobra 23 plus that was givin to me from a guy at work, it's a good clean sounding radio to, it's a stock radio with the modulation turned up some, I get good reports back never had a bad one yet, you are definitely right about sticking with the set up I have is far as a antenna goes, I'm not wanting complicated things added to the hobby I just want to set up and play so I'm glad you told me this because I would probably rip my hair out and said forget about it, I am thinking about the ham thing, I was given a connex radio with the ham bands on it, I've never yet heard anyone talking on those frequencies but I'm sure they are out there, I listen a lot for ham operators to talk for fun

If your Connex radio has SSB, look between 28.300 and 28.400 usb, that is where the most activity is.Look when you hear a lot of skip on 11 meter, 10 should be open. Just remember you need a license before you can transmit there.
Rich

 

[Mike Hannahs MH261]

LOL, Are you using a voice to text or a text autocorrect program?

I'm sure "and Tenors" is obviously 'Antennas' as is "in tennis"



I'm curious what "and tenor" your using

If your Connex radio has SSB, look between 28.300 and 28.400 usb, that is where the most activity is.Look when you hear a lot of skip on 11 meter, 10 should be open. Just remember you need a license before you can transmit there.
Rich

Thanks Rich, I definitely won't be talking there without the license to do so I don't want the hams coming after me, they earned their spot there and I respect that, I do not have ssb on this radio I wish I did for 11 meter I want to play around on ssb I've never even used ssb before

 

[Sonar]

LOL, Are you using a voice to text or a text autocorrect program?

I'm sure "and Tenors" is obviously 'Antennas' as is "in tennis"



I'm curious what "and tenor" your using

The voice to text on my j7 sux. I have to begin reading my posts/replies before touching the Post reply option. Lazy I guess. My tenor is an imax 2000 (Luciano Pavarotti model)