5-ELEMENT ON A TOWER ???

[tonyhatchetman]

WELL I'M JUST WONDERING DOSE THE LOWER ELEMENTS ON THE BEAM NEED TO CLEAR THE TOWER IN HEIGHT OR WITH THE TOWER BETWEEN THE ELEMENTS HURT ANY THING LIKE SWRS SIGNAL etc. ANY INPUT WOULD BE GREAT THANKS

[linx]

No, they don't need to, but mine does personally.

I think it's personal preference.

[distortion69]

You will talk better if it clears the tower.. You want to clear it at least 3-4 feet with your bottom element's if possible.

You will talk with it as low as the tower, though. So if your on a budget and don't want to buy a nice mast right now, you can get by with it like you have it.

BTW: That 5 element is a mean beam.. I run one right now until my laser's get on the tower

Peace,
Josh

[linx]

IF you go too high, then you'll be like me a couple of nights ago, pacing back in forth just waiting for that sound of the mast pipe bending.

And yes, mine is above the tower, and it's with schedule 80 steel mast pipe.

The higher, the more chance on breaking the mast pipe.

[TwentyTwo-Zero]

I can't speak from experience, but everything I've read indicates that (like distortion69 stated) you should have the elements above the top of the tower.

IF you go too high, then you'll be like me a couple of nights ago, pacing back in forth just waiting for that sound of the mast pipe bending.

And yes, mine is above the tower, and it's with schedule 80 steel mast pipe.

The higher, the more chance on breaking the mast pipe.

Isn't that why you (or should) rotate the antenna during high wind to a position that offers the least amount of resistance? Schedule 80 is some pretty thick walled piping. Although larger diameter, it's the same stuff they use around here for street light poles. I would think it would hold up quite well to the wind. I'd worry more about an antenna failure before the mast bending. Maybe a better question would be how high is too high?

[PONY EXPRESS]

WELL I'M JUST WONDERING DOSE THE LOWER ELEMENTS ON THE BEAM NEED TO CLEAR THE TOWER IN HEIGHT OR WITH THE TOWER BETWEEN THE ELEMENTS HURT ANY THING LIKE SWRS SIGNAL etc. ANY INPUT WOULD BE GREAT THANKS

Actually you would want the antenna to clear the tower. On the other hand if you tilt you elements just a little off straight vertical you would also clear that metal pipe that is still also detuning the antenna radiation pattern. Now myself I would flip that antenna Horizontal "FLAT SIDE" and not worry as it would do a lot better job for you when the skip starts to roll. You wouldn't have to worry about how high above the top of the tower it is as only a few inches would clear the tower.
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[linx]

I can't speak from experience, but everything I've read indicates that (like distortion69 stated) you should have the elements above the top of the tower.

IF you go too high, then you'll be like me a couple of nights ago, pacing back in forth just waiting for that sound of the mast pipe bending.

And yes, mine is above the tower, and it's with schedule 80 steel mast pipe.

The higher, the more chance on breaking the mast pipe.

Isn't that why you (or should) rotate the antenna during high wind to a position that offers the least amount of resistance? Schedule 80 is some pretty thick walled piping. Although larger diameter, it's the same stuff they use around here for street light poles. I would think it would hold up quite well to the wind. I'd worry more about an antenna failure before the mast bending. Maybe a better question would be how high is too high?

LOL, you don't have a beam do you? Yes, I always turn mine into the wind when not at home, when I'm asleep, or during storms. While my personal beam, is only about 20 lbs, the actual wind size of the antenna, and the length of the pipe have more to do with it bending then it being a heavy wall pipe. At least my pipe is not solid, or it would have bent with those 60mph winds. It sounds great and all, but until you walk out and look at a beam and it's mast in a storm, then you don't understand. Mine was bending back about 1/4 of the way from being at a 90 degree angle, and was coming back into it's normal form.

The reason I worry, is that I have seen a set of moonraker 6's with half the 15 ft of exposed mast that I have get bent double in a wind storm. Strange things happen.

[TwentyTwo-Zero]

I guess I figured that the thicker walled pipe would have more strength. One of the locals has a Maco Shooting Star (8 element - 16' boom - 30 lbs.) mounted about 15 feet above the top of his tower on rat shack mast. During a recent storm we had sustained winds of 50 mph and gusts upward of 80 mph. His antenna/mast/tower made it through intact. On the other hand, my ABS1600 (omnidirectional) got the tip snapped right off it. Go figure. As you said though, strange things can happen...

[linx]

Mine may actually be more than 20 lbs. It's a Moonraker 4. Shooting Stars were modelled of this antenna, and mind should weight a little more for teh little beefier hub design.

You would think the thicker the pipe, the stronger, but a hollow pipe is stronger than a solid pipe. You can take a solid pipe, pick it up by one end, and watch it bow in teh middle from weight. I'm thinking this schedule 80 is simular. I shoulda put a schedule 40 mast pipe in the tower instead of the 80.

Anyhow, with 15 ft obove the tower, I have superb performance!

[209 first class]

sounds like he is speaking about running it vertically ? id say go horizontal, then u wont have to worry about detuning, and you get about 9 feet of free height (because vertically the elements are closer to the ground.) being closer to the ground screws up the radiation pattern. 209

[linx]

sounds like he is speaking about running it vertically ? id say go horizontal, then u wont have to worry about detuning, and you get about 9 feet of free height (because vertically the elements are closer to the ground.) being closer to the ground screws up the radiation pattern. 209

I like having a dual polarity beam b/c you can switch around. Running horizontal locally sucks. There's nothing better shooting skip. It's a hard call. There is a guy here that runs his half way between vertical and horizonstal at a / angle, and claims it works wonders.