[TowerTalk] Fiberglass poles for wire antenna support?

[Al Williams]

wheat in IOWA?

k7puc

-----Original Message-----
From: Bill Putney <billp@dune.wwpc.com>
To: Towertalk <towertalk@contesting.com>
Date: Sunday, July 23, 2000 2:10 PM
Subject: [TowerTalk] Fiberglass poles for wire antenna support?


>
>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
>
>--
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