Need help putting up a mast for my Antenna

[Anthony Rizzolo]

I am looking to get my Antenna out of the tree that I have it in mostly because the tree is ready to come down so its only a matter of time.

I was thinking of putting up an antenna (but not an array) similar to the one we had setup at field day using PVC and guying ropes to keep it in place.  I believe I have enough space to do this.

I have the PVC but I am looking for where to get the Guying rings and I guess I will need a base plate to mount it on.

Does anyone know where we got the Guying rings for the Antenna we setup at field day.

I saw some at DXEngineering (https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/dxe-gr-5p) but they want to charge me like $13.00 for shipping and handling which seems crazy on a $9.00 item.

Does anyone know where I might get a set of these rings and the base plate locally in the Massachusetts or New Hampshire are or perhaps another supplier?

Will this type mast with proper guying work for a home antenna setup or do I really need to buy a pre-built mast?

Thanks,

Anthony Rizzolo

[Fred Kemmerer]

Hi Anthony,

The masts and rings that we used at field day came from Max-Gain Systems. You can find their website here. Don’t know how well their rings would work with standard PVC. Maybe some combination of flanges that you could glue to the PVC along with a hose clamp for support and then drill for guy connections would work? A good place to get this stuff would either be Home Depot or County Store in Milford, NH. As far as a base goes, your can make one using some pressure treated lumber. Here’s an article showing what we did for our mast at our home QTH.

Hope this helps,

[Dave Michaels]

Hi Tony:

Perhaps you have already moved forward on this task.  I wonder if you have looked at the mast raiser/support DIY/kit from bend-gard.com ?  The website has some detailed pages on how to build the mast raiser and how to secure it in ground or bracketed to house.

[Fred Kemmerer]

Hi Anthony,

Thinking about your project a little more, I think I’d recommend a good quality commercial mast solution such as one of those outlined above. Mast can be a bit unstable and are prone to weather damage and breakage. Its a fair amount of work to put one up so its worth it to get a good quality piece that will stay up.

73,

[Nashua Area Radio Society]

Tony,

The Bend-Gard owner has brought some of his products to demo to the Near-Fest ham radio flea-market over the last couple of years.  So you could contact him to see if he’ll be there again this year (depending on your schedule).

Near-Fest also usually has another vendor that brings along a large collection of military surplus masts, base, rings and accessories.  The masts are stackable 4ft sections of fiberglass (estimate 1.5 inches in diameter, or also they have available stackable aluminum sessions.  Unfortunately, I don’t have a link for these, but believe they come from upstate New York.

Hope this helps.

Mike

 

[Hamilton]

PVC is the hardest to get up due to its weight and its flexibility. It is also the least UV resistant.

PBS pipe is lighter and stronger. When you are in the store hold a long length of pipe by the end and see how much  it flexes.

For a bit more money there are fiberglass masts that are much more stable and easy to put up.

 

 

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