Nitpicking the Height of My 2m/70cm Base Station Antenna

#hamradio #hf #vhf #uhf #antenna
When we moved to our current QTH, in 1998, I brought with me a Cushcraft R5 vertical HF antenna and some 8 ft. sections of 1.25-inch outer-diameter steel antenna mast that I had purchased at Radio Shack and used to support the R5 at my previous QTH. The new house had a back deck with 4x4 support posts. At my previous QTH, I used a chimney mount system. I brought the chimney mount brackets with me and mounted them to the 4x4 support posts. I had enough brackets and mast poles to install an antenna on each corner of the new deck. So I installed the R5 on one corner and a 2m antenna on the other corner.
I installed a Diamond F-23A for 2-meters. But it had too much gain for the surrounding terrain. The low takeoff angle caused my signal to warm the dirt. I live on a ridge, at approximately 1050 feet above sea level, but my house is in a low spot on the ridge. The ground on three sides of my house is higher than my roof. Literally, my neighbor’s houses North, South, and East are all higher than my roof. To solve the takeoff angle issue, I switched to a Diamond X-50A, with its 4.5dB of gain. The higher takeoff angle of the lower gain antenna lets my signal hop over the high spots. But there is still the challenge of the foliage.
In this video, I show the “nitpicking” technique I employ to maximize VHF/UHF coverage. The new mounting brackets helped make the adjustments easy.
I want to thank Wendell, K5WAN, for the Yaesu FTM-400D that you see in this video.
I mentioned that winds from Hurricane Zeta (55-60MPH by the time it hit Atlanta) took down my 2m/70cm antenna. Here are links to 3 videos about that:
• Hurricane Zeta Passing...
• Assessing the Damage f...
• Up and Running Again A...
A link to purchase the mounting brackets I used is below:
VANROUG Heavy Duty Wall Mount...
www.amazon.com...
I searched and searched and found a very good source for more steel mast sections at a reasonable price. Some places wanted $40 for a 10-foot mast and over $200 to ship it. I found a supplier that sells two 5-foot masts at a reasonable price. The total price, shipped to my door, was $51.54. The masts have a swaged end, so you can insert one into the other. I chose to only use one of the masts for now. It allowed me to push my antenna up another 5 feet, which made a noticeable difference. The mast is heavy duty and extremely strong.
The masts can be purchased at this link: www.solidsigna...
At the end of this video, you will be able to see a listing of some of the supporters of this channel who made this video possible. These are people who have supported the channel via Patreon membership, as what I call long-haulers. Long-haulers have supported the channel on a long-term basis. There are 4 levels of Patreon membership, including S5 (Associate), S7 (Executive), S9 (VIP), and S9+ (VIP+). S9+ (VIP+) denotes an S9 (VIP) member who voluntarily chooses to give over and above the amount for S9 (VIP) membership. They help me continue to produce videos even though most people do not contribute toward the cost of my mission. Without their support, I cannot bring my viewers uncensored content.
I hope you enjoy this video and find it helpful. If you find my channel informative and entertaining, I hope you will consider joining my support group by clicking on: www.patreon.com/N4HNH There are 3 levels of support, including exclusive content. Visibility of premium content is determined by the level of membership you choose. The higher the membership level, the more content you have access to. VIP members are invited to participate in periodic Zoom meetings.
Most videos are visible to the Patreon team members long before they are released for public viewing. Some videos are never released for public viewing. Yearly S7 (Executive) and S9 (VIP) members have access to the menu optimizations PDFs I’ve written for the FT-891, FT-991A, FTdx5000MP, FTdx101D/MP, FTdx10, and FT-710 AESS. Yearly S7 (Executive) members can receive one menu optimizations PDF while yearly S9 (VIP) members can receive multiple menu optimizations documents, plus my FT8 configuration guide for either the FTdx10 or the FT-710 AESS. Future radios might be added. The documents are copyrighted. They shall not be divulged to anyone else without written permission from Doug McAlexander, callsign N4HNH.
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73, de N4HNH