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

[Jim Lux]

On 10/26/14, 8:53 AM, Vegard Svanberg wrote:
> 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.
>


This sounds a lot like what TV antennas use. Standard inexpensive steel 
tubing masts in sections, guying hardware, etc. Your windload is way 
lower than a big LPDA for fringe area TV reception.

I doubt you'd find anything cheaper out there.