Want a "tower" on a budget?

[SvenMarbles]

This is what I erected several years back and it's been rock solid for me.

-10ft 4x4 wood fence post, $10

-A sack of quick set concrete $8

-Some RCA TV antenna mounting hardware, $13

-4 sections of RCA mast, $56

------ $87 (add more or less sections of mast to your liking at $13 each, but 4 or less need no guying)

There are 2 $40ish antennas on this mast. A widebanded discone that does just about everything acceptably well, and an Amazon yagi for GMRS that really blasts out directionally, but good only for 467 transmit. Add about $15 for some PVC to replicate the little manual rotation contraption I've made.

 

I use this setup with a Tidradio TD-H8 GMRS (That I've turned up to 11 watts VHF 8.5 watts UHF) and it get in full quieting to all of my repeaters, some being 30+ miles away.

 

[Socalgmrs]

I’m just bolted a 10’ comet 712 to the old satellite dish mount on my house it’s up about 32’’ and I get 200miles from a 20w base station.  No digging no extra cost.  

[WRYZ926]

Nothing wrong with going as cheap as possible on building an antenna mast mount. The main thing is that it is secure and stable. Use wall clamps and guy ropes when putting two or more sections of pipe together.

I will give a suggestion for a cheaper source of mast pipe. 1 5/8" fence posts are usually cheaper than antenna masts pipes. I picked up the fence posts at Menards and had to order some 1 5/8 fence post couplers from Amazon.

Here is a link for the 1 5/8" fence post couplers for those interested. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BCFTBL4H/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

One thing to remember when using a mast is to secure it to the house and/or use guy ropes to keep it from swaying in the wind. This is important so that the mast doesn't wave around and bend/break.

Reusing old satellite dish mounts is another great alternative too. I am using a couple of 4 foot tall j mounts on my roof. One has my Comet CA-712EFC mounted to it and the other has an additional 6 foot section of 1 5/8" fence post on it to get a multi band HF antenna up.

In the end, use what you have or can afford. Just be safe and follow all safety and grounding practices.

[SvenMarbles]

I came to this idea because I really didnt want to screw anything into my house. Didn't want to compromise my newly done roof or siding despite all of the reports of it being "fine to do". Just needed a stout structure to bolt onto that I didn't care much about, and a 4x4 from the big box home improvement store concrete set into the ground seemed  like the perfect stout base to use.

As I said, this has been up for years now in the further southwest suburbs of Chicago. We get severe storms in the warmer months. a bit of sway but it's very stout. no guy lines. I actually have a second version of this a bit moved back on my property to support the high side of an HF sloper. That one is with an all PVC mast. Again, all good.

I'm actually considering adding another section of mast pole, because this amount has been so problem free. I could probably peek up another 10 feet. The only thing holding me back is that I'll need to sort of finesse all of the coax feed line to accommodate it.

 

[WRYZ926]

If it works then go with it. And I don't blame you for not wanting to drill into a new roof. That is why I put my j mounts along the edge at the eaves. So if there is any leaks it will just be non the outside of the house. I have 12" wide eaves on my roof.

There are many options when it comes to getting a mast and antenna up in the air.

[Flameout]

Hey, whatever works!! 

Anytime a tower goes up for sale in my area, they get snatched up pretty quickly, so for now, I have been using those 1-3/8" galvanized top rail for fencing. I have 25' on my roof with my Comet 712 EFC (Top of antenna is about 50') and 40' of top rail for my Commscope DB404 (top of antenna is also around 50')Of course I had to add guy wires, but so far so good. This was supposed to be "temporary" but I said that about 9 months ago. So far they survived high winds and lightning

[warthog74]

Nice. I went cheap also. Two 3/4” x 10’ chunks of EMT conduit with a coupler from Menards. Two cheap mounting brackets off E-Bay. Bolted the brackets to the garage. Cut a chunk of wood and mounted it to bird house's 4x4 post, then drilled a hole near the end to run some zip ties through attached to the mast. Helps eliminate some swaying. Height of antenna (gmrs tuned j-pole) is roughly 30 feet off the ground. Total cost was less than $50. Whatever works right?

[SvenMarbles]

17 hours ago, warthog74 said:

Nice. I went cheap also. Two 3/4” x 10’ chunks of EMT conduit with a coupler from Menards. Two cheap mounting brackets off E-Bay. Bolted the brackets to the garage. Cut a chunk of wood and mounted it to bird house's 4x4 post, then drilled a hole near the end to run some zip ties through attached to the mast. Helps eliminate some swaying. Height of antenna (gmrs tuned j-pole) is roughly 30 feet off the ground. Total cost was less than $50. Whatever works right?

The mission is simple,.. Get your antenna up high. If you want to spend $4,500 on a proper 35ft tower, that's alright. but the result is essentially the same as doing things like this. My tower has been up in the state that is is for nearly 6 years..