[TowerTalk] Fiberglass poles for wire antenna support?

[Bill Putney]

If I crowd the fence line I can just fit a full wave 80 meter skyloop in my
backyard.

I'd like the antenna system to disappear as much as possible. The rumor is that
these should be at least 40' off the ground. My 50' tower is about where the
feed point should be.

Question #1, Has anyone used fiberglas poles for wire antenna supports? I'd
have to go pretty close to the property line so they'd have to be self
supporting. I was looking at fiberglas flag poles and light poles. These would
never support anything more than the wire antenna so the wind loading would
only be slightly more than the poles themselves. Certainly less than a flag or
lighting fixture. They even come in colors and are paintable so I can make them
blend (a little). They all come as one piece so they'd have to come on a
flatbed truck. They are more expensive but much less obtrusive than a telephone
pole.

Question # 2, from the feed point to the first half wave supports it's pretty
flat. The next half wave is up an incline (4:1) that rises about 15-20' above
the previous section over the run to the last support. The slope then continues
off my property for another 40' back and 10' up the slope to the top of the
ridge. Should I keep the antenna flat on top or follow the ground slope?
Keeping it flat on top would lower the profile a little. Would anyone like to
take a guess about the change in the antenna's pattern and launch angles in any
of the forgoing configurations?

Seems to me that all the antenna books assume that you live in Iowa on a 1000
acre wheat field and your shack is in the middle. <sigh>

- Bill

-- 
=====================================================================
#  Bill Putney - WB6RFW            | My repeater:443.400 Mhz-100 Hz #
#  WWPC                            | It's not open, it's not closed,#
#  5780 Balmoral Drive             | it's controlled. It's open for #
#  Oakland, CA 94619               | membership (which is free...). #
#  billp@wwpc.com - (510)531-2412  | Go figure...                   #
=====================================================================

--
FAQ on WWW:               http://www.contesting.com/FAQ/towertalk
Submissions:              towertalk@contesting.com
Administrative requests:  towertalk-REQUEST@contesting.com
Problems:                 owner-towertalk@contesting.com