robbin
Premium,MVM
join:2000-09-21
Leander, TX
| reply to Airplane777
Re: WISP site survey poles ?
said by Airplane777  :Do you fully extend it on the ground and attach everything on the pole while it is horozontal and then push it up in a vertical position? No -- never extend a mast and they try to erect it. You must first get it secured in a vertical position. Put any equipment on it that you want and then extend it.
I had set up a mount on my previous van. I used a tractor hitch pin in my trailer receiver for the mast to stand on. At the top of the van I had a piece of square tubing which has holes every inch or so mounted to my ladder rack. I had one size smaller tubing mounted to the antenna mast. So all I had to do was step the mast on the hitch, slide the smaller tubing into the one mounted on the van, put a pin through one of the holes, and then get way up on the ladder to extend it. I was able to successfully survey with a 50' Rohn mast and Trango radio on it (only tried this without any wind). The higher you go, the more the mast leans. Without guying, you will run into a problem on a long survey as you can't keep the mast vertical (it leans with the weight of the equipment) |
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Airplane777
join:2004-06-20
4 edits | Hi robbin:
Thanks for the valuable input.
I don't understand your complete explanation.
I'm not sure what a tractor hitch pin or trailer receiver is. I may have seen them, but just don't know their names.
I assume the trailer receiver is the piece of heavy duty steel, mounted up underneath my back bumper...the square hole in my hitch. This is the thing that my big metal square piece (with the ball on it) slips into. Except I guess you took the ball off.
I think I understand the square tubing with holes. I can mount that to my roof rack temporarily. Maybe with strong ty straps.
After that, I'm confused.
Wow. A 50' mast. Thats tall. I thought the 36 foot mast I got from Radio Shack today was tall and heavy. Yours must take two people just to lift it?
Could you do a drawing of your set up and maybe take a digital pix of it? That might help me understand the setup.
Thanks so much. |
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robbin
Premium,MVM
join:2000-09-21
Leander, TX
| One person could do it without any problem. I am not still using the truck and have taken the pole apart, but I still have the old van and took a few pics for you.
Hitch setup
Rack Attachment
Mast up position
I don't have the mast attached, but basically the mast stood on the hitch (I used the tractor pin because the farm supply was close and I knew one of these would fit inside of the bottom of the mast -- a large bolt would work) and then went through the strapping at the top. It was fairly secure; once again, no wind and park level.
If I set this up again, I want a platform on my ladder rack which I can get on to raise the mast. |
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Airplane777
join:2004-06-20
| Hi robbin:
Thanks so much. Thanks for going out of your way to do those pictures. It is comming together now.
Gee, I could get one of those tractor pins somewhere around here or see if I can find an overgrown bolt...LOL.
It looks like you used some square metal tubing with holes in it. On the one end you have some flexible metal strap hooked back on itself with a loop in the end. Looks like you have wing bolts on that strap so you can easily undo the strap.
As far as hooking the square pipe to the wood, it looks like you used some U bolts for that.
I'm not sure if I see what you used to secure the wood to your van rack. The wood looks like a 2 x 4?
That sure looks like it should be secure. |
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robbin
Premium,MVM
join:2000-09-21
Leander, TX
2 edits | The wood is a treated 2x6. The ladder rack is round tubing for the cross sections and I used ubolts for that. The square tubing to wood connection are just bolts through the wood and holes in the tubing. You can get that type of square tubing at Lowes.
I used the wing bolts on the strap so I could remove it, but in practice, it stayed on the mast.
[Edit -- The U shaped pieces you see in the third pic are some quick release type pins from the farm supply. You just stick the pin through the hole and slip the u shaped piece over the end of the pin to keep it in the hole. You could just use bolts.]
[Edit2 -- I used the same kind of pins in the mast when I was raising it. Everything went up and came down very fast.] |
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Airplane777
join:2004-06-20
| Really neat robbin:
You have a really nice setup there. I will try to get something similiar to that.
I was looking for one 36 foot mast today and wound up buying two today...LOL. I guess I will have to get a tall ladder, so that I can get to where I can raise the sections.
I'm now trying to get my Rootenna set up with the Senao CB3+ delux. Gee,that thing doesn't give me hardly any indication of the signal quality.
The CB3 works great as an AP. And I can use my Orinoco Gold card with it to get great results of site surveys. But...
As a CPE the CB3 doesn't give me much of any indication at all as to the quality of the signal it is receiving. I can tell it is probably doing a very good job, but I don't know how good. Maybe I should mention this for a seperate post, since this is a seperate issue.
My wife wants me to go for a walk. So I will probably come back and do a seperate post on how to see the quality of signal with the CB3 when used as a CPE device.
I still may buy that 23 foot 3 section mast from Home Depot I found in the painting section. It is a little more portable then this larger mast. I'm sure I will find a place for both of them |
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VariableARK
join:2003-03-17
USA | reply to Airplane777
i found a mast at ecommwireless, but i couldnt find a tripod for it. and my vehicle isnt mast-able
anyone know where to get a good inexpensive tripod? thanks |
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uscomputing
join:2005-01-26
Buffalo, NY | reply to Airplane777
Beware - the only way ecomm can ship those masts is by truck and that will run you over $100. UPS won't take the masts as they only collapse to 10 feet. |
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VariableARK
join:2003-03-17
USA | reply to Airplane777
oh, where then did eveyone buy their masts and tripods? |
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robbin
Premium,MVM
join:2000-09-21
Leander, TX
| For the masts, look for an electronics store in the area which is geared more toward hams, electronics buffs, etc. The place I buy them from in Austin is listed in the phone book as an electronics wholesaler. Also, you call call this kind of place and ask if they know. Usually it only takes a few calls.
For tripods and other mounting hardware, try Ronard. |
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nwn
Premium
join:2004-03-05
Centerville, IN | reply to VariableARK
I do not use a tripod. Mast is a Channel Master from Lowes.
--
Scott |
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VariableARK
join:2003-03-17
USA | reply to Airplane777
what do you use for the channelmaster to hold it up? |
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nwn
Premium
join:2004-03-05
Centerville, IN
| Mine is the red truck in the pictures above. I drop the fence post, slide the pole in it, stand it up and clamp it on the bracket on the ladder rack.
Never use it in windy conditions or near power lines. The pole is very flexible and conducts electricity.
--
Scott |
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Airplane777
join:2004-06-20
1 edit | reply to Airplane777
I went out today and bought a bicycle mount for the receiver in the back of my van. It will hold up to 4 bikes and is long enough that I can strap the 36 foot pole I got to the long metal bar.
I'll just take the bike mount part off and just use the vertical metal bar to support the pole. Seems pretty strong.
I'm still thinking of buying a 40 foot fiberglass Wonder Pole. They are around $250.
Now I will have to buy a bicycle to put on the mount, when I'm not erecting masts for antennas...LOL.
Question: How do I make a statement here without showing I'm replying to myself or anybody else? I see some people are able to do that. |
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robbin
Premium,MVM
join:2000-09-21
Leander, TX
| said by Airplane777 :...Question: How do I make a statement here without showing I'm replying to myself or anybody else? I see some people are able to do that. Go to the top of the page and change the view to "nest" and compare it to the "flat" view and you will discover that everyone is either responding to your first post or to the post of someone else. Normally, I would assume that if the post does not say "reply to name" then the post is a reply to the post above it. The site only puts the reply to when it is needed to reference an earlier post than the one directly before it. |
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Airplane777
join:2004-06-20
2 edits | Hi robbin:
Gee. I see I have more to learn about how to post something here...LOL.
After I figure how to post something without making it a response to anyone, then I will try to figure how you get that dotted line around the remarks I made. I still don't know how you do that...LOL.
I can't figure this out. I clicked on reply to reply to you, but it doesn't say I'm replying to anyone. |
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Airplane777
join:2004-06-20
1 edit | reply to robbin
I just clicked on your "post reply". I need to try this again.
Now it says "reply to robin". I must have done something different the time before this. |
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Airplane777
join:2004-06-20
1 edit | reply to Airplane777
Now I clicked on "reply" at the top right of the page.
Lets see what happens now.
It still replys to me. I guess I'll just put peoples names at the top so people will know who I'm replying to...since it makes it look like I'm replying to myself. |
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John Galt
Forward, March
Premium
join:2004-09-30
Happy Camp
 ·CenturyLink
| said by Airplane777 :It still replies to me. I guess I'll just put peoples names at the top so people will know who I'm replying to...since it makes it look like I'm replying to myself. The best way is to learn how to do the quote box like I did here...
Click the "Auto Quote" button, edit out what you don't want, and then put your post at the end of that.
Use the "Preview" button to check how you are doing...after you figure out the "brackets" then you will get great looking quote boxes
Oh...spell check before "Post Now!"
--
A is A |
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uscomputing
join:2005-01-26
Buffalo, NY
| reply to Airplane777
Check this mast out: 33ft fiberglass telescoping
»cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi···ame=WDVW
I've saw one of these in person at the HAM radio show this weekend and they are very lightweight and compact. They tend to wobble alot when you extend them but it would be ok for a quick site survey, not for anything permanent. |
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