[TowerTalk] Masting

[Red]

The center of a 'temporary' dipole here is supported on 35' of Radio 
Shack steel mast.  The antenna elements support it in one plane and two 
guys support it in a  plane perpendicular to that.  The guys are 
attached at about 20', to minimize the downward force and the length of 
mast subject to serious 'slender column' loading.  It has been up over 
15 years, now.  It won't hit anything fragile if it falls, and the 
damage to the antenna wouldn't be expensive to repair, so I didn't take 
time to analyze the loading..  Otherwise, I would have spent the time to 
assure that mast is loaded within reasonable limits.

Conductive masts at the ends of the antenna will interact with it 
somewhat.  The farther they are from the ends, the less the 
interaction.  That can be modeled, but be aware of limitations of NEC-2 
when modeling elements that touch the ground.  There are various 
approaches to dealing with them.
73 de WOØW