Consider running the coax through a garden hose before burying. You won't have to dig it up if you want to change or remove it. You can use a barrel connector on the existing coax to pull the replacement through. - Nice video!
A PL259 connector is about 18mm in diameter. Common 5/8-inch is 15mm. Even a rarer 3/4-inch hose (19mm) would BARELY accept it, and with even the slightest crush from being buried, forget it. Don't use a garden hose, use a larger and stiffer pipe maybe 1-inch diameter. Or don't bother; just direct bury and rip it out when it's going in the garbage anyway.
@@JxH I think that the idea of the hose or conduit was to make any replacement of the coax easy if that becomes necessary, just use the old coax to pull the new line through, - no need to dig up the lawn to re bury the new run of coax.
@@Ropetangler Why not use a conduit that is correctly sized, as opposed to a "garden hose" ? Rest assured that I understand the basic point of a buried conduit. My gawd, is there anyone that doesn't ?
Nice job. EMT conduit is a great resource for all kinds of antenna work....I use the one inch stuff to hold up my wire antenna...super strong and 17 bucks for 10 feet...can't beat it!
Nice project, this is precisely how i did my mast for my flagpole and it works great! That being said i really think H.O.A's are too far in to peoples business and should examine themselves in the mirror first, Blue skies Capt! KC5JSR, 73'
New sub here. Just got in to 11 meter band. Super brand new at this... I like the idea of having coms of any capacity during a black out. great idea man....
You could stealth that mast by training some vines to grow up the mast. Then it will look like a support structure for your vine! Another idea is to have mounts on the mast to hold small potted plants. Then it would become a structure to hold your garden pots!
Plant some kudzu? I've considered welding together a 20 ft tower out of rebar so that it would look like a scaled down version of one of the old style oil drilling rigs / derricks... Then plant some aggressive growing vines by the legs and let it take over it... Of course, the BEST solution is not to move into an area with HOA Nazis in the first place...
Love the mast idea (no grounding?). You are right close to that huge tree with plenty of near horizontal branches. Couldn't you just swing an Ed Fong or N9TAX from a branch?
The trees will attenuate my xmit and rcv signals but it still works hitting the repeaters in my area. Simplex goes out about 10 miles. I think you could use an Ed Fong/N9TAX antenna in the trees. The hardest part is getting the antenna to the highest branch. 73 N4VFR
Nice set up but direct burial coax cable? Maybe some 1/2 PVC electrical conduit six inches deep not only would protect it from water intrusion but will also make it easy to replace the coax in the future. Use 90 degree fitting pull points at the antenna and into your shack. Just my 2 cents.
When you run a bolt through thin wall pipe like that no matter how much you tighten the nut you'll never really get it tight. It just collapses the pipe. Instead, use nylock nuts. Those are nuts with a nylon insert that will stop the nut from spinning freely. Just snug it up, but don't distort the pipe. The copper coat is a good thing, too.
Great job! I had two sections of ten foot threaded 1.5" EMT conduit screwed together and bolted to the side of my garage at my previous qth I'm going for 3 this time around at my new place, but I'm doing a fold-over setup with a 33ft vertical on top of it. Should be fun!
When you do videos like this you need to show some after work such as SWR readings. Show a clip using the antenna to see if it's viable how far out it will reach, line noise, deflection from trees if any. Showing how to do it is fine, but showing it works is better.
Great use of materials available! That would not work as well where I live as the base would fill with water, freeze and burst in winter but you don't have to worry in FLA 😅
@@TheComingGlory -- What would a ring around the top of the pipe do? Unless you are talking about basically making a grommet... But you would need to cap the pipe that is going into the 4-ft section of pipe also... Even with that though, you probably should consider a drain hole...
Is the jpole for 2m? If you try to use it for 70cm then uhf frequencies will be absorbed by leaves in the trees. I have found that to be the case in the woods.
I understand that since it's a j-pole it doesn't need an RF ground, but should this have a lightning arrester at the base with a ground rod next to it? I've been thinking about doing something similar except using it as a point to tie off an EFHW extending from the house.
Hows it performing with it in the foliage of the tree and did you add a lightning arrestor and ground? I have mine mounted to a tree but imma add a section of pipe so it peaks up past the top of the tree.
It's still performing well. I swapped out my J-pole antenna and replaced it with a Tram ground plane vertical. Well, no lightning arrestor nor ground rode on this set up. If I added another section to past the tops of those trees, I would have to guy the mast. I'm happy with this height so far.
I did not ground my 2m/7cm J-pole antenna mast. It's working well and haven't been strucked by lightning yet. Lightning would probably hit the trees before a direct hit but I'm taking the risk. I do however have a lightning arrester in my window passthrough.
2 weeks ago I had 70mph winds which broke my DX Commander in 3 places while my 2meter J-pole is still standing in the trees using this EMT Conduit Mast.
@@DarrenN4VFR Perhaps the tree branches prevented the antenna from breaking. Here the tree limbs would destroy my tv antenna if it was within their reach. I hope to have my license soon.
Mine is set up as a fixed height. I would need to modify it if I were planning to make it adjustable. I also have an EZ Push up Mast. It's 33' adjustable.
@@DarrenN4VFR Ok great... as far as the poles go if i wanted to put a 3rd or 4th pole to make it longer what sizes would i need besides the 1 1/2 and 1 1/4
What was the total length of the anchor pipe you put in the ground? How far did you pound the pipe in the ground? Weep holes towards bottom for water to drain?
I don't really remember, probably maybe about 2-3 feet deep and maybe 4 feet above the ground. No weep holes for drainage. I think it's open at the bottom of the pipe. 73's
@@DarrenN4VFR I was looking at 1" and 3/4 inch 10ft galvanized steel pipes to build this, but then saw your EMT piping build which would be cheaper and lighter. The DTV pole I'd be using is sitting about 2 ft from the structure so yes, tying into structure via guy wires will have to happen
Going to be doing this for my helium miner , what’s the highest you think I can get it using the material you did while keeping it structurally sound? Love the DTV pole idea, I install them for work and have tons of those poles.What should I search for on Home Depot or lowes for the pipe?
If you have those DTV pipes, measure the diameter and goto HD or Lowes and get a conduit pipe in a smaller size so it can slide inside the DTV pipe. I dont remember the exact size however, if I were to guess, I would get a size 1/4 smaller. Maybe 1 1/2" diameter. I can put 2 conduits together without using guy wires. Remember to get a smaller size diameter for the upper sections and use the bolts in a crisscross pattern to prevent twisting. I hope that clarifies it a little. Happy New Year!
Hello. question: what is the minimum size of the iron pipe 12 meters for lifting the yaghi fm antenna Dimensions antenna gauge L*W*H: 5500*900*1760 MM Weight: 5 KG? thank you!
To tell you the truth, I don't remember. I just estimated the diameter of the tubes and took an educated guess on the length of the bolts and take considerations that you will have nuts attached.
@@DarrenN4VFR Thanks for the reply! I actually ended up building this mast for my J-pole at my new QTH and it has worked amazingly! XYL is also pleased that the poles can be painted and blend into the background. Thanks for the video!