60 FT Guyed Antenna Mast Materials?

[jdomer222]

 

I have gathered all kinds of information thus far, but one thing I am having a very hard time figuring out is how I can make a tall base station antenna mast.  The city I live in allows 70ft amateur radio antennas without a special permit, and I think every foot of that would be beneficial for my local terrain.  I intend to align it with the peak of my roof (25ft) resting on the concrete patio below.  The first 25 ft will be held to the house with probably 3 brackets.  Above that I plan to send 2 guy lines anchors to the opposite corners of the roof, and 2 more line anchors down to the ground below.  I think the guys will be spaced about every 10 ft (probably 4 points on the mast for the roughly 35 ft of mast above the roof level - then a 9 ft antenna at the top).

Can I use chain link fence top rail for this and drill and but and bolt each joint?  The only thing I have seen so far is a telescoping mast that reaches about 44 ft, or a 50ft fiberglass one that hits 50 ft.  I cannot find any construction information for a mast this tall.

Thank you in advance for your help.

Edited February 7, 2022 by jdomer222
Clarify that 60 ft mast is my question, not specifically fence rail.

[gman1971]

Just now, jdomer222 said:

 

Please excuse my ignorance, but is there a reason other than value for these radio recommendations?  I have a kg-1000g in a vehicle that I like some of the features of...and I considered potentially using one as a base station radio because I couldn't find info on any 110v gmrs radios.  Are all of the options going to pretty much be repurposed 12vdc mobile units for gmrs?

 

Thanks again for all of the help.  I don't know anyone personally who is knowledgeable about radios, and though I've learned a fair amount just researching, I still feel like I know so little that I don't even know the right questions to ask yet!

Yes, commercial radios have much better front end than CCR radios. On a vehicle its probably "barely acceptable" to run CCR stuff, since cars usually only have a 1/4 wave vertical that is max, 6 or so feet over the ground, not sticking out 50-60 feet up in the air being hammered by all the RF coming from all these megawatt radio transmitters in every giant RF firebreathing 1400 foot towers from 40+ miles away... Those towers and their megawatt transmitters will wreak havoc on radios with no front or little front end filtering.

If the EVX radios are of any indication, I believe the VX-4702 will be a good radio for base duty, it won't desense too bad, or intermod distortion galore to smithereens like even the AT-578 does... with a NOAA station... 

Based on my VHF measurements, and adding for the 10 dB extra attenuation per equal distance, my estimation is that if done right, 50W UHF GMRS with a 4-bay folded diple placed at 50-60 feet, will probably yield a good 20-25 miles simplex range, provided the radio has an effective sensitivity measured in uV, and not measured in Kilovolts, like most CCR stuff is.

G.

[wayoverthere]

8 minutes ago, jdomer222 said:

 

Please excuse my ignorance, but is there a reason other than value for these radio recommendations?  I have a kg-1000g in a vehicle that I like some of the features of...and I considered potentially using one as a base station radio because I couldn't find info on any 110v gmrs radios.  Are all of the options going to pretty much be repurposed 12vdc mobile units for gmrs?

I've yet to see one that wasn't actually a mobile, even some of the stuff sold as a "base station" is just a radio and a power supply integrated into a box.

One nice thing with the vertex vs the icom ham radio that moved to the truck (which is physically similar to the kg1000g) is the lack of a fan..most of the bottom of the vertex is heatsink. The fan is a lot less noticeable in the truck.

[gman1971]

On 2/6/2022 at 3:03 PM, jdomer222 said:

 

I have gathered all kinds of information thus far, but one thing I am having a very hard time figuring out is how I can make a tall base station antenna mast.  The city I live in allows 70ft amateur radio antennas without a special permit, and I think every foot of that would be beneficial for my local terrain.  I intend to align it with the peak of my roof (25ft) resting on the concrete patio below.  The first 25 ft will be held to the house with probably 3 brackets.  Above that I plan to send 2 guy lines anchors to the opposite corners of the roof, and 2 more line anchors down to the ground below.  I think the guys will be spaced about every 10 ft (probably 4 points on the mast for the roughly 35 ft of mast above the roof level - then a 9 ft antenna at the top).

Can I use chain link fence top rail for this and drill and but and bolt each joint?  The only thing I have seen so far is a telescoping mast that reaches about 44 ft, or a 50ft fiberglass one that hits 50 ft.  I cannot find any construction information for a mast this tall.

Thank you in advance for your help.

35 feet mast can be done with x3 10 foot galvanized water pipe in 1 1/2, 1 1/4 and 1 inch + a 5 feet section with a coupler atop the last 10 feet 1 inch pipe.

 

Leave about 1 feet of each tube inserted on the larger diameter, like a telescopic antenna, and drill two holes to hold them tight. Don't use a large single bolt, if you do you won't be able to run the cable inside the pipe.

G.

[BoxCar]

On 2/6/2022 at 4:03 PM, jdomer222 said:

Can I use chain link fence top rail for this and drill and but and bolt each joint?  The only thing I have seen so far is a telescoping mast that reaches about 44 ft, or a 50ft fiberglass one that hits 50 ft.  I cannot find any construction information for a mast this tall.

Thank you in advance for your help.

I would use the vertical posts on the fence as anchors over the top rail. The top rail wouldn't be made to handle the stress from a lead pulling on it. The vertical posts are probably anchored in concrete and would handle the stress from a guy line much better.