Mike,

This would be cheaper and more sturdy than  moving around a tripod of 
some sort.

Another option to consider is to use the fence post as the  bottom of a 
homebrew telescoping mast.   I do this with a Butternut  HF-6V on a 5 
foot fence post.   I use a piece of pipe that just fits inside the 
post.   It is cut to a length so that  when dropped into the fence post 
about 6 inches is above the post.   The antenna is mounted to this piece 
of pipe.  I also pre-drilled a hole through the pipe  2 feet from the 
bottom.   With the antenna mounted, coax and radials attached, I raise 
the pipe until the hole clears the top of the  post and slip a bolt 
through so the bolt rests on the top of the fence post and the antenna 
is several feet higher than the top of the  post.

If you do something like this you can  decide just how high or not so 
high you want to go.   Mine is set so the base of the antenna is about 
13 feet up.  I've got the radials tied off to various things in the yard 
so everything is head high so the lawn guys don't get de-crapitated.

73, Steve KW3A

On 11/25/2012 11:35 AM, Michael Ryan wrote:
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
>> From: Michael Ryan <[log in to unmask]>
>> Date: 25 November, 2012 12:57:44 PM NST
>> To: Michael Ryan <[log in to unmask]>
>> Subject: Abandent Fence post for antenna mast
>>
>> Hi All:
>>
>> 1ST of all let me express my condolences to Kevin's XYL and family.
>> Not sure if some sort of card is planned by the list, think it would be a good idea and you could certainly add my callsign to the list.
>>
>> I have lived in this basement apartment for almost 3 years and only the other day I discovered a cemented in abandoned fence post about 3 feet from the top of my stairwell.
>> I think there was a plan to bring a chain link fence to that post for the dog kennel, which never did get done. The pooch has since past on and the hole kennel is took down, except for this one post.
>> Its about 5.5 feet tall, so here's the plan. I'm going to ask the Land Couple if I can mount a Hustler 5BTV to it. I'll mount it high enough that I can pound a ground rod underneath the antenna for the connection of the ground lead.
>> I'll then come up with a way to attach 3 or 4  radials and when the Land Couple needs to perform lawn maintenance, I could lift up the radials and drape them over the railing until they're finished or even still, devise a way to come up with a quick disconnect radial system.
>> Leave the antenna up, when want to operate, simply go out and connect the radials and coax and go. Disconnect the radials and coax and bring them back in when finished.
>> This might be easier than trying to assemble and try to tune a complete antenna. There's another thing, there's a satellite dish mounted on the house, which will be about 6 feet away from the antenna top and slightly behind. Will the antenna and HF cause interference?
>> Of course this is all going to be a compromised antenna system but I got to try and get the best compromised antenna system I can get! LOL
>>
>> TNX & 73:
>>
>> Michael DE VO1AX
>>
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