Home Built CB Antenna Tower Idea. 45 Feet for less than $75.00 ? 

My friend and I have found three people who have unwanted tubular towers they just want to get out of their yards. All we have to do is take those towers down. So far, we got one 20 foot tower down and cobbled up an extra length of steel pipe to fit inside the mast sleeve. We used it for my friend's CB tower, attaching the antenna to a steel pipe that's attached to the pipe that's in the tower sleeve. We hoisted the tower up and lifted the pipe up like a periscope to a height of 40 feet. He doubled his output power from what he had before. A person could ask around and search for an unwanted tubular t.v. tower that someone just wants to get rid of. We found two other people who both have unwanted 80 foot tall t.v. towers. It's just a matter of getting those unwanted towers on the ground in a safe manner, then using the sections we need and taking the extra sections to the scrap yard. It is my understanding a tower, that's not near an airport, can be 200 feet tall without needing a permit from the Federal Aviation Administration. Anything taller will need a FAA permit and proper lighting. So, if either my friend or I hit the lotto, we'll hire a crew to install two, free-standing CB towers just shy of that 200 feet limit.

I have the same antenna you ordered and I'm very happy with it, had it over 8 years now. I live in Canada and talk skip all over Europe, South America, etc. I'm very happy with it.. It's on my 30 foot tower and as you know its over 15 feet high...it goes way over my roof...no problems as one guy said its a lightning rod...no it's not...i hate when people talk without facts...its an amazing antenna..Congrats on your purchase, you will love it...I just subbed to you, very nice channel..

Interesting idea! It will be interesting to see the finished product. I made my own til-over tower for a CB antenna from conduit and top rail as well but it's free-standing and half the height your's will be. Mine has held up pretty well with the exception of the top rail bending where it was connected to its support due to wind. But it was fairly cheap and painless to fix it as I showed in a video I made about mine. Good luck with this project, I'll be looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

Definitely a good upgrade path! If the 4x4s are treated outdoor grade wood then no worries on longevity. Wind on 20' of exposed mast & the 5/8 antenna will be harsh in bad weather, so don't skimp on the hefty assembly & bracing hardware. Get the best coax you can afford, and make sure to get a ground rod or three to drive in at the base of the mast, so you have a place to ground that tower to. Looking forward to the build process.

Might look into some Schedule 40 galvanized 2-7/8” pipe. You can get it at commercial fencing companies in 24’ lengths for about $70. I used one on the base, and then a thinner walled piece of 2-3/8” galvanized inside of that to extend it to 35’. With a solid base setup I think it could go higher than that

an army stick. i took it down, it got water in the bottom of it. I bought a new one, the fiber glass was popping the lower part. i painted it and i have laying on horses, along with fifty foot tower. horses. at my age i will never get it up. a neat tower build.

I've had an A99 mounted to the chimney now for a year, up about 25' to the tip. Works great but like everything else in this hobby you want to upgrade. I have a fat boy six pill from Bullett Bob and use it with a Magnum S680. DX talking when conditions are in here in the San Joaquin Valley of CA is good. I've got a Zero 5 30K ground plane that I want to get up and have been thinking how I want to mount it up since I'm not going to be able to put up a large footprint tower. This is a great idea. Thank you Sir.

A friend of mine built me a 50’ tower out of top rail and 3/8” round bar. He made a jig to bend the round bar in the “Z” pattern and welded it to the top rails. It is the exact dimension of a ROHN 25G tower section. He also made the top section and a solid fold over base. Did it all for $310.00 and it lasted from 2004 until Hurricane Harvey brought it down. It was pretty rusty by then, however.

For tx distance, it's always about a clear path from point a to point b without any kind of obstructions so having a higher antenna makes sense. Be sure you have it grounded really good as it will be a lightning rod during stormy weather.

Thanks to your CB videos, I bought a Uniden Bearcat 980 and love it. Still taking my Technicians test in a few weeks, but want a nice base antenna on the homestead property and this video helped. Looks like it will be an I-Max. 😀

Do it!! We were wanting to do that exact same thing! I’ll look at that link from the gentleman who gave you the idea! And definitely keep up the videos as you go along!

If you could get you hands on an Antenna Specialists Super Scanner there is a lot of gain there. It is comprised of 3 @ 5/8 wave vertical dipoles in an triangular pattern. I think its about 5 db gain in Omnidirectional mode and 9 db gain in beam mode. It has a 4 position switch that you can change directions on instantly rather than wait for a beam to rotate. Each directional lobe covers about 270 degrees. I talked to Caracas from Scranton without skip at night with one.

The Imax is a great antenna. I noticed improvement in rx and tx over the a99. I highly recommend painting the Imax , as long as it's non metallic for obvious reasons. Doing this will extend it's life and keep it from fraying. As far as the ground plane kit goes, I didn't see much of a difference in the performance with it installed. You may experience different results though. I've never had a problem with my neighbors complaining about RFI. I'm using RG-213 coax with an 8 ft. ground rod. I haven't had any problems with it in the 3 years I've had it. It can be raining to beat the band or experiencing blizzard conditions and the SWR remains unchanged at 1.2 to 1 on all 40 channels. I'm very happy with mine and would buy another if this one fails. 73

Solarcon IMAX 2000 antenna is a very good omni-directional antenna. Had mine up for 8 months now at 60'. Great on RX and TX.

Been researching antennas and I know some of the A99 fans are going to disagree. I read an article that said in hilly areas and where there are buildings and other obstructions a 1/4 ground plane antenna will work better. I ordered a Starduster from Amazon for 62.00. It arrived today and I have not had a chance to put it up. I mentioned this to the tech at the CB shop where i bought the A99 and he immediately said the Starduster will definitely perform better than the A99 he sold me a few weeks ago.He then said it was illegal to sell aluminum antennas. Bull, well, you know, the stuff that drops out of the back end of a bull. So. we will see. Also wanted to mention that I made a pivot mast out of 4x4's. Two 8 foot ones in the ground cemented with the middle one for pivot on a 1/2 inch threaded rod. This plan came out of a 1964 edition of ham radio manual. I have 22 ft of 4x4 in the air with the top rail like you have running the entire length plus 10 feet above. This puts me at 32 feet and I can pivot it down very easily. If it was a little lighter I could raise and lower it by myself. BTW, I have watched several of your videos and find them very interesting and informatve. 73's to you and yours

For extra strength at the joints I would recommend drilling a 3/4" hole 5" deep into the end of each 4x4 and inserting a 10" length of 3/4" rebar into the holes.

This was in April! Great to see this going up now, what a beast!

friend of mine did the same with 4x4s 16ft an used 4 3ft 2x4s an bolted them to each side of where they was end to end an used a 10ft pipe 2ft down the side of the top 4x4 an put the antenna on the pipe he didnt put the 4x4 in the ground our anything he had a brace to keep it from kicking out he said it works good been up 5yrs now an been through some bad storms

G’day mate... from Sydney Australia. Looks like a good project!! You may want to consider using the RG58 thick coax cable to reduce power loss over the extra distance between antenna and radio. I ran an antenna at about 100 feet in the 70s on a unit block here in Sydney, worked great!! Good luck. Cheers Anthony

I would over engineer things myself. I would add longer supports where the two 4x4 post meet. The most stress you will have is pulling it up or taking it down. Also wouldn't call this a tower as much as I would a mast or post. Looks good again I would just support further the 4x4s where they meet further.

Back in 84 I knew a guy who had his Big Stick antenna mounted in a Norwegian Spruce next to his home. His swr's were off the chart and he bought an antenna matcher which brought it down. Those were pretty controversial back in the day as being "b.s." but hey he was getting out really well. Dangerous situation though with the tree and lightning I would imagine tho even if grounded well lol.

The height above ground, "Physical Wavelengths" will have major performance outcomes depending on the frequency. Height isn't always better in some cases (the higher the antenna,the lower the radiation angle)With HF, 20° radiation angle is ideal for SSB operation, Also with lower frequency's with such a long run of coax,keep in mind the loss in d.b's and velocity factors. LMR 400 is far superior than RG213, with long coaxial runs, your coax can turn into a radiator itself, look into making a simple 4:1 balun to keep the R.F. currents from feeding back down the coax, also the coax measurements should be cut to wavelengths equal to the frequency your transmitting on. Having an odd length of coax will cause high SWR's even though your antenna is a flat match. I do know with VHF/UHF freq's, each coax coupler with have a 1/2 of D.B. loss so the fewer the connectors the better. Your antenna is EVERYTHING, AND HAVING GOOD GROUND IS ESSENTIAL, Keep in mind , electricity travels in the least path or resistance,and with DC currents, it travels from ground to positive not positive to ground, with that being said, your "Ground to the antenna and radio, must be as "SHORT AS POSSIBLE". This is only my opinion but, I would choose something other than wood for a antenna mast, Again, only my opinion. Kind regards,Eric Dee.

I'd half lap those 4"x4"s then lag bolt or large dowel 'em together. I'm doing similar. I've had an old telephone company creasote treated 4"x4" up for years (about 12 foot up,) extending it this year another 16 foot with guy wires.

I'm just seeing this, behind on the videos , I'd be worried about the wind at the splice. I'm in south Louisiana, and hurricanes are an issue though. Watching more after this, suspense is killing me..

Hi mate thanks for your videos l was a long time cb user back in the 70s and 80s and after see one of your videos I have started to buy some gear and get setup again will be building a 5/8th ground plane Antenna who nows mabe you will here me on air lol cheers and keep up the good work promoting this 🍻👍

Where the 4x4 meet. I would notch them so they will merry each other and bolt them together. No metal strap. Youll lose some height but it will be stronger. My opinion

i served in the States and Iraq with Marcus Dean Adams; very intelligent.

I once upon a time was using CB radio for a hobby, which was a real no-no then, it was supposed to be for either business or for a family, but not for just general shootin the "whatit call it". And the height was to be 20 feet. Either 20 ft above your house or some building, but not above a tower, only if the tower was built primarily for some other reason. 20 ft from the ground if you just placed it , say in your yard, but 20 ft was the max . What has the FCC done, changed to normal thinking? Oh yeah this was in the early 60ty's. When all radio's were tube type, turn on wait 8 days and you would hear something. Now if you left your radio on for super long time, the tubes would slowly degrade and you would have to replace certain tubes. But if one tube was weak and slowly losing it's strength you could bet every tube was also going bad, so if you had a few working brain cells you would replace them all if possible. My first transceiver was , wait it's coming, maybe a Heath kit. You built your self, aka solder it together and align it. But having no O scope or S meter, well if your heard someone and they could hear you, that was good enough. Oh it had a regenerative receiver, wonderful. The next radio was a Allied Radio or a Lafayette, don't remember. It was a different time, ooh and my ant was made of electrical tubing. Cut to length 1/4 wave with a ground plane, all made from tubeing and a hunk of plastic to hold the tubing for the ground plane and the center radier was in the center to provide insulation from the 20 ft mast that was on my house. My mother said it was a fancy lighting rod. C U L..73's from the peanut gallery, "Howdy Duty" show.er, time. P.S. you had better hold the power to 4 watts total output, 5 watts to final driver. And where I lived the FCC did monitor the bands.

EIS brake part box....long gone company but not forgotten

I saw a video on RU-vid where a guy a wire dipole for his CB radio, you may seem the video. He made wire dipole that was 102" on each leg foe a total of 204" when you hang it up. He live in NJ and made a contact in Texas in the AM mode. I don't what you think if this, but I am thinking of doing this myself. The thing this guy was using this antenna inside his house when he made the contact. I was told once, a radio is only 10% operation where the antenna is 90%.

Grate idea what u could do is put 4. 20ft pieces of pipe to gether and do it like that and then make some thing that sticks in ground that u put pin in and it will hold the pipe

You'll love that Solarcon I-Max antenna should you decide to buy it. I had one up for over 20 years until the wind finally broke off the top section. It is extremely broad-banded, usable down to like 26Mhz all the way up to like 30. Yes, the match would be a little high on the extremes, but still usable.

I think that's a great idea thanks for sharing this. I'd love to see it when its up

Use a piece of all thread where the posts meet, drill a slightly smaller hole than the all thread, and screw the posts together- then use your bracing.

Old video, but figured it’s still a good place to ask. I’m wanting to set up a base station and have access to utility poles that have been replaced by the the electric company. Not sure on the length of those, but they would give some decent night for whatever antenna I go with

Over build your joints, you have a lot of leverage working there. We used a hand crank to raise and lower light towers at work

Love to see a video of it installed and working keep us posted

That looks awesome, thanks for the shoutout! I've thought about extending mine, but doing so would mean some kind of guy wires or something since I don't, at least right now, have a structure I can mount it to without messing with the shingles and things on the edge of the house. The fence posts I have on there now do great with the single 4x4 and single piece of conduit, but that antenna and conduit exert a lot of leverage as the pole gets longer. Mine right now is just a 12 foot 4x4, but I made a similar pole for my brother out of a 16 footer and when I'm walking his up with my hands, the leverage makes it feel twice as heavy as mine does with the same antenna and same length conduit. Random thought. I just built an 8x8 foot deck on the front of the house. I haven't added railings or trimmed the excess off corner posts yet. The corner posts are 10 foot 4x4s that are cemented 2 feet into the ground. I could move my current "pole" onto the deck, attach the hinge to the floor over a joist, and upgrade it to a 16 foot 4x4, then just attach it to the side of one of 6 or so foot stretches of 4x4 that I still have sticking up that I haven't cut off yet. That would give a ton of lateral support to keep it from swaying, but on top of the 4 additional feet on the 4x4, I would gain 3 feet or so from raising it onto the deck floor. Attaching the hinge to a floorboard/joist would hold the bottom end steady whenever it came time to lower it, but I would have to angle it such that I could use guy wires to help support it while I lower it, or maybe when I lower it I could just lay it across a railing and just use a ladder in the yard to reach my antenna. You've got my wheels turning now, :p Take care, and thanks again for the shoutout!

I'd love to see the finished product. You should get a good base station radio, instead of talking out on that 29LTD you have on your desk.

If you want a powerful antenna alot. Of db gain go with Maco Alpha v 5'8 5.14 db gain all directions.

Will work at first but wind and time will take its toll. Rock on bro, nice videos

Cool idea and resourceful, i would add some guy wires near the top as you will be in excess of 20ft above your roof top (if it were me).

I would love to see the construction and the installation of the tower. If you do the video I'll certainly watch it. Thanks!

I have some creosote pilings that are 27' long. I drilled the center down 12" and inserted a 10' long galvanized 1" conduit into the hole filled with epoxy. I wrapped the tip of the piling with carbon fiber down 18" to make sure the piling does not split. Then I filled the conduit with epoxy to stiffen it. Then I mounted the max 2000 to the conduit. I augured a hole in the ground 4 '. Then strapped the piling onto my track hoe bucket and picked the whole thing up vertically and sat into the hole and filled with concrete. The third section looked like it was broke at first in the horizontal position. So I guess the tip is 56' off the ground. I can hear the entire US on skip from South Alabama. To new to talk yet.

Hey Mark my handheld is a realistic TRC-207 40 CH. it's a good radio. I just don't hear no traffic on it

Awesome Tower Eric I really like it great job.

The idea has promise. Needing a tower myself.

Isn’t it easier and better to just run a minor amplifier to get signal out? I mean, does the fcc even bother with ‘small fry’ operators particularly those out yonder? Less of an eyesore too.

The solarcon I was up 88 feet and talked All the way to the NE coast but that’s a great antenna

Did you ever mount all this? I ammlooking for a cheap yet safe way to get 40-50 foot off the ground on side of my house to mount my 1-2 dipoles for my low power fm station. I have two top rails I got from lowes last year, want to get more, but wanna do it safe. Any ideas sir? Thanks

Hey I left the tower industry a month or two ago because I was tired of traveling. Really miss the work, I have been thinking about starting my own tower maintenance company on the side, do you know how I could get into doing that?

I don't really have the tools to make a outdoor one like this so would it work if I used a Workman Saturn B100 Base Station Apartment Attic Patio Balcony Boat Truck Antenna and I mounted it to the inside of my window and ran the coax cable from it to the radio for indoor use?

Yeah, I have the Same Base Antenna sd you. Love it.

Speaking from experience with toprail antenna masts go with 4 rails on the top.

Looks like a good start. Join ham radio. We need more people who do this and not the chair warriors. There are a few people in hamland that hate on cbers don't pay them any mind. KM4HPK

Thanks for the video mate, but that wooden tower will last about 2 seconds before it twists and bends and looks unsightly!!! Next project, get yourself a desk where you can put your legs underneath while using your computer and radio.

Pretty cool idea

I like your home made tower .make sure you ground it.

Measure your coaxialcable in 11 meters incrmates. Example 34.10 feet x 3 it would be around 105 feet.

Did you not like the reviews on the ground plane? I was thinking of getting one as well.

QUESTION: is RG8U coax acceptable for base cb? I would love to see a video on soldering PL 259's if you ever have the time. It's hit or miss for me. Sometimes the swr's are a bit high.

are you going to use guy wires. you will need atleast 3. the taller it is the more leverage you are adding and the more easier it will bend over.

How much height above the highest attachment to the house? You may need to put guy wires on it.

I found a Heath 202-10 antenna in my garage. Can this be used for a cb base station antenna. Thx u

Maybe you can answer a question; Do you know what the longest coax cable is???

Sweet. If you dream it then do it 💪

No more than 2 fence top rails. Mine bent in half with my IMAX had to just do two joints.

a99 is tougher and in my case w no ground plane actually beat the "max 2000" that is what they call it now, not the Imax, did get the "max 2000" going better by putting a fire stick as the top element.

What would it take to have the utility company set a 40 or 45/50's pole? It would last so much longer and hold up to the weather. Become friends with a few lineman...electric lineman.

I have a homemade crankup up tower I bought. I would like some advice on some ideas I have for it.

you are aware of the height restriction for C.B radio antennas of course? 25ft height is specified in FCC regs. That was one of a dozen violations that got a gentleman in deep dodo a few years back in a city south of me. Its not likly the FCC will bother with a over height antenna but when they do, its very bad for the pocketbook book

It starts taking over your life, doesn't it?

don't like the antron 99 everybody i watch here on youtube can't get a decent swr. what is it with this antenna.?.

so what did you do?

great setup

Here's the disclaimer: There is nothing wrong with the antron or Imax. With that being said, have you considered a Mr. Coily antenna or any other custom aluminum antenna. Maco even makes one that is nice. At least check out the Mr Coily...best ground plane antenna I have ever had. Its long, heavy and durable. (thats what she said).

4 rods on top for secure holding three for omnidirectional wind resistance. At least that’s how I’d do it....

Longer gusset if you live in a windy area

Great job! You are a true inspiration and a Renaissance Man of all sorts. Subscribed! Thank you A+

I think the four by fours will be too heavy and not stable enough at that length. You cant find a used steel tripod tower somewhere? These would last forever.

I’d also add a horizontal dipole and a antenna switch

Antron a99 another great antenna

This is ironic, I just bought a $750 dollar antenna tower..... OOPS!

You should join my group on face book cb radio show and tell , great you tube channel you have here , have a great day

Any consideration for a beam antenna?

i dont see why you are using 4x4s. i would just connect the fence rails all together by bokting in a smaller pipe inside the ends as connectors and bolting it all together then using guy wires to hokd it up. it will be lighter too! no need to over engineer it...

I’ve been watching your videos

4 would give you omnidirectional protection from wind damage.

I had an imax it bleeds like crazy I run a home made 1/2 wave dipole and no bleeding of electronics what so ever.

do you do skip on 38 side

im over here in ireland and the price difrence beteen a antron 99 and a imax 2000 is nearly a 100 euro

I have a 40 foot tower I would give to somebody but it has to be taken down.

Anyone ever tried a crank up, using rohn 25g in rohn 45g. Wondering how it worked out.

24 ft long big i have one now 30 foot off the ground

The legal limit (FCC) for CB antenna height is still 20 ft above the structure that's holding it. I knew you'd want to be reminded, so that you could keep everything legal.

How do you use a mobile cb for a base cb

I think my uncles neighbor has one of those antennas so that's what it is

antron 2000 way to go

You need a crane for that heavy antenna

Do yourself a big favor and ditch this idea. Just go buy a sail boat mast. They are lighter, Stronger, look better, don't age and used ones are everywhere for decent prices, They are hollow so you just slip them over a 5 ft 2-4 inch pipe set in a concrete footer. Lastly it doubles as a GREAT flag pole but cheaper. I did this and it works GREAT!