[VHFcontesting] Fwd: MAST FOR ROVERS

[Chris Lumens]

>Is anyone else using Penninger masts?
>
>I operate portable on top of the Niagara  (Lockport) Escarpment in Cambria,
>NY.
>
>I use a Penninger Radio, 24 ft. mast supported by a Penninger two inch
>trailer hitch mount tipper. It is not a guick set up, but it is robust and
>safe.
>
>Again, for me, it takes time to assemble the hitch mount, 3 eight foot
>sections of aluminum mast (1/4 in. wall), and 3 guy lines, but it supports
>my Directive Systems beams.

Yes, I use Penninger stuff for my rover.  I used to use the hitch mount
tipper on my car, but tilting up that much mast, coax, and eight bands
worth of antennas was too slow for the type of roving I prefer.  It also
seemed dangerous to walk up by hand and involved spending time on a
ladder.

I have since bought a truck and rearranged how I am doing things:

https://www.lumensoutdoors.org/~chris/rover1.jpg
https://www.lumensoutdoors.org/~chris/rover2.jpg

That's all still Penninger mast.  However, the rear mast is now on a
rotator that's bolted down to a pallet and then guyed to the truck bed.
I only have to attach the top 222 MHz antenna when I stop, and I can do
that while standing on the bed.  No more ladder.

The front mast is just being supported by something I whipped up the
night before a rove.  My future plan is to add a front-mounted hitch
receiver on the truck and use the Penninger tipper there.  I can also
set that up from the ground, too.

I've timed myself and I can go from pulling into the parking space to
operating in about eight minutes.  There's another eight minutes of work
on the other side of the activation.

If I were operating portable from a single location or maybe two,
instead of roving from six or seven locations in a weekend, I might do
something differently.  This seems to be working for me though.

-- 
Chris Lumens - KG6CIH
Hike * MTB * XC Ski * Haskell
Research - Experimentation - Testing - More Testing