[TowerTalk] Questions

[Gary Smith]

My goodness, more answers than I expected. Thank you. 

I am in a somewhat difficult place, ham-wise. The problem is I am on 
the ocean, not directly on the ocean, but sheltered by Long Island 
Sound, in Connecticut and even more closely sheltered by Fisher's 
Island, 3 miles away from me. But... even more sheltered in that I 
live in at the end of a cove. So with that, I have sheltering from 
the winds but Hurricane Sandy pushed salt water over the bottom of my 
low band radials and radial plate so I'm vulnerable to hurricane 
force winds. 

No matter how I place them, my antennas can't be in the open, too 
many inquisitive eyes if I put it in the nearby clear space which 
would unfortunately be on state property. The only possibility is to 
put it at the edge of the marsh which puts it in my trees. In the 
winter there's no leaves so the antennas will be essentially in the 
open, but that's not in hurricane season when the strongest winds 
hit.

So what I'm trying to figure out is, what will give me the least 
noticeable profile and will it be sustainable in a ground mount. It 
seems like the thinnest profile is the best but perhaps it is too 
fragile. Since the folks supplying the tubing don't have the answer, 
I need to figure out what to do with help as I really have no clue. I 
was hoping there was a simple formula I could plug in the variables 
and come up with a number but nothing is ever simple, eh? 

Looking at the record, Sandy hit 88 MPH in CT and more than that, 
I'll have more than my Rx antenna to worry about. So I guess 90 would 
be the target speed I should brace for.

Regardless of any storm's wind surge, I know the winds will blow down 
branches and I'll have to keep rehabbing the antennas every spring 
but I don't want them to be so thin as to snap at the base when the 
wind Gods sneeze. Maybe I'm over thinking this but I've met Murphy 
and understand him well.

One difficult thing for me is I am to a fair degree handicapped. I 
can walk around but can't really carry anything heavy on uneven 
ground. Since I have to do this all myself, some of the excellent 
suggestions for an antenna mount like filling cinder blocks with 
cement to hold the antenna in place, will be pretty much impossible 
for me to carry out. To make it harder, there is a 300 year old very 
sturdy stone wall between me and the antenna site. Because of that, I 
can't even get a garden tractor to carry the load out there. This is 
where I need kids but, none of those around either. There always is 
an answer though, it'll come.

Thanks for so many helpful replies.

73,

Gary
KA1J