[Tron]

I have a new antenna, preamp, cable, etc. I live in a fringe area and of the five decent stations that I get, three of them get intermittent at times. Since I have a pretty good setup, I figure more height would improve the signal enough.


Right now my antenna is on a chimney mount that has a short mast which brings the antenna to about 10' higher than the peak of the roof. I'm thinking about getting a Channel Master 30' telescoping mast and a tripod mounting bracket. Will this be sturdy enough to hold a large VHF/UHF antenna and a rotor? I intend to use guy wires.


Does anybody have a mast this long with a tripod?


My antenna is an Antennacraft D9000.

 

[dswallow]

Unless your increase in height is getting you over some obstructions otherwise in the path of the signal, you'd need to raise the antenna many hundreds or thousands of feet for any appreciable increase in line-of-sight distance to a broadcast tower. 20 extra feet doesn't even give you an extra half mile of line-of-sight distance. By raising it 20 feet, at best you might help minimize any multipath reflections coming off your own or a nearby roof. For that matter, you could also end up making it worse.

 

[ctdish]

My experience indicates a significant signal strength increase, when raising the antenna from 20 to 40 feet. This is for high VHF and UHF stations at a distance of 50 miles from three different directions. I have no blockages in the first few miles and one of the markets is mostly an over water path. The signal level from the upper antenna is at least 10 dB higher than the lower one. Go for the highth, but use solid guying. John

 

[George Thompson]

30' mast is pushing the limits of wind loading. A simple eyebolt screwed into plywood is not going to hold. You need a bolt through solid supporting members. You also need multiple guy points on the mast every 10 feet. Look at the rated square footage on the mast and make sure the antenna does not exceed that spec. You need to go for tower sections above 30'.

GT

 

[Bfadams]

I have a channel master 36' telescoping mast mounted in a tripod on the roof but I have not extended it yet. I have the guy wire hooks going through the beams in the attic. On top is a rotor, tilter, and RS VU210 antenna. May need to extend to over come the trees when the leaves come back in. I installed it in last fall.

 

[Tron]

It sounds like 30' is really pushing it. I will probably go with twenty feet. From what I have read elswhere even 5' extrat height can make a difference between getting an intermittent signal vs a good enough to watch signal.

 

[dswallow]

Vertical positioning can make a difference, but higher isn't necessarily automatically better. Tilt can make a difference too, especially for fringe signals (those beyond the edge of line-of-sight).


Of course, standing on one leg while touching the tip of your nose to the gutter downspout 15.7 feet and 66 degrees from your antenna while placing the other hand palm-forward in your left sock can make a difference too... just not necessarily in reception.

 

[AntAltMike]

Quote:

Originally posted by dswallow ...standing on one leg while touching the tip of your nose to the gutter downspout 15.7 feet and 66 degrees from your antenna while placing the other hand palm-forward in your left sock can make a difference too... just not necessarily in reception

Actually, doing something similar to that DID improve the reception of broadcast channel 8 from Richmond, Virginia being received by stacked, cut-to-channel antennas 60 miles away in Charlottsville. They threaten to take the ladder away so that I wouldn't leave. I later realized that I had been acting as an attenuator to one of the two antennas, and with that additional attenuation, the phase cancellation array I had inadvertently created by also misconnecting one of those antennas balanced better than the way I had it connected. YMMV. In fact YMWV.


You might see an increase when raising the antenna from 20 feet to 40 feet above the ground, but I can't conceive of that kind of an increase coming from raising it that much above a roof with a seemingly unobstructed horizons.

 

[Tron]

I recall a thread on this forum a few weeks back where somebody said that by raising his antenna five feet higher he changed four channels from below the threshold of acceptable signal level to above that threshold. In other words he got four channels he couldn't watch before. I have two channels that I can watch occasionally, but which are usually too weak. I hope by adding ten feet or so I can bring them in strong enough.

 

[lomax]

worked for me , I went from a 10ft pole to a 40ft telescoping mast.

The biggest difference came when I got above the trees, and then just a little better at about 10ft above trees. Higher made no more difference, I think being at lease 10ft above the highest tree cut down on reflections.


If you have no trees blocking you or other obstructions to get over, then changing hight is only good to find a sweet spot.

 

[Tron]

lomax, how big of an antenna did you put on your 40' mast? Do you have a rotor?


I have trees all around the antenna right now. I'll have to go out in the daylight to estimate how much higher I need to go to get over them.


BTW I just noticed you live one town west of me. What channels do you get?