What Should I Mount My Ham Antenna ON

  How in the world am I going to get my antenna up in the air ? Going way back when I was younger I asked myself that question and now I asked myself it again when I started in ham radio. Back then I had a 40 foot tower with my PDL II beam antenna on it. My only regret is that I sold it not thinking that I would be in ham radio. That was in 1992 when my wife and I moved into this house. I really don't have a backyard big enough for it, but I bet I could have squeezed it in.

Just an example of an antenna tower

 
  In my present situation I have a imax 2000 on a metal 30 foot push up mast, wall mounted to my shed and guy ropes attached. I have had no problems with it. My dipole antenna is up on the chimney on a 10 foot mast and two legs coming down to a tree at 16 feet and the other to the mast at 16 feet. It works okay for now. There are also some telescoping fibreglass push up masts for light installations.

Example of a push up mast

  Options for other people differ depending on their property situation. I have looked at quite a few different antenna tower set ups. I like the idea of the rohn tower with a hazer attached to it so the antenna can be lowered close to the ground for easy access. I have heard some good things and some bad things. One problem was that the hazer may get hung up going up or coming down. At that point it means someone has to climb up the tower and try and free it up. The other question I have is what is the best tower for this situation. Can it be 40 feet tall or will it have to be shorter. Also if it tall say 30 feet to 40 feet will it need guy rope, if so then you will still have to do some climbing when raising or lowering it. Here is a link to Glenn Martins web page on Hazers http://glenmartin.com/category/amateur-radio-ham-radio-towers-for-antennas/hazers
    My next choice is to go with a telescoping or crank up tower. The ones I have seen lower to about 12 feet to 21 feet, which isn't too bad. You still have to do some climbing when working on it. I remember reading one article where the tower just came down inside itself. The antenna was a little bent and part of the tower was damaged.
 

Example of a tilt over crank up tower

  The final tower solution is one that tilts over at the base. This makes it a little easier when servicing it. The one consideration is to have enough room when tilting the tower over. Also if it is a beam take into consideration the it will have to rest on a ladder do to the length of the boom.
 

Crank up with tilt version

  Of course if you have a roof your not to worried about putting holes in your roof you can use a antenna tower. There are some heavy duty roof towers by glenn martin. There are some tripod type antenna towers that work pretty good for light antenna installations. Here is a link to Glenn Martins main web page for all their towers http://glenmartin.com/products-2/amateur-radio .
   The final decision comes down to the cost. Antenna towers can be very costly. Depending on the type of tower, height of the tower and cementing the base of the tower. There is also the freight involved when it is shipped to your location. A lot of the delivery people require you the customer to remove it from their truck. Some towers like telescoping towers can be very heavy.
  Another type of tower is the straight crank up mast type tower. The do not take up as much room as a normal tower. They are a little lower in cost depending on the height of the tower. There are also easier on your neighbourhood and your  neighbours eyes. Here is a link to US Towers website where you can check out the tubular towers as well as other towers http://www.ustower.com/#!__product-pages/ham-towers/vstc11=ma-series .

  Well Thank You for reading and happy planning. Have a nice day from Dan KC2YTI 73s.