[TowerTalk] Long pole / simple, tall construction for small antenna

[Vegard Svanberg]

Hi guys,

I work in broadband and from time to time we have customers we want to
hook up, but we're unable to gain a free line of sight from the customer
to the nearest tower.

There must be a free LOS, which means no trees, branches, mountains,
buildings etc.

The most problematic cases are when people live in areas surrounded by
trees.

Since cost is an issue here, we can't build towers for each and every
one. But I'm considering a low cost solution to get the antenna higher
in the air - often as much as 20 meters (about 65-70 feet) is required
to gain proper LOS.

So... I'm considering making a simple, cheap and tall construction.
I've been pondering either just putting together cheap and thin
aluminium tubes with guyings to stiffen the construction, or have
someone make something for me in composite materials. For instance poles
I can insert into one another to get the length (height) I need, also
here with guyings.

Apart from the pole itself, an issue is also proper anchoring in the
ground (rocky ground is easy, obviously, while sandy and muddy soil
could be tricky).

The weight of the antennas are only about 400 grams and the surface area
is small (HxW = ~300 x ~80 mm) so we're talking pretty light and simple
stuff here.

Before I go ahead and start constructing this myself, I was just
wondering if someone here has done something similar before, or know
someone who sell ready-made kits I can buy.

Thanks!

-- 
Vegard Svanberg <vegard at svanberg.no> [*Takapa at IRC (EFnet)]