WZ1, one question, why the long mast above the top tower section? You are better off with more tower sections. If you are at the maximum number of sections above the bracket, using a long mast is an even worse violation.

Good idea about putting a tower in the back yard for WIF though. I will have to consider that option.

roger, in Ottawa you would have to put your tower in the back yard anyways due to bylaws :( Unfortunately I don't think we in Ottawa could put a tower so close to the neighbor as this one. I've considered putting one just like this, about the same distance, same location but I couldn't meet the bylaw if I did. I hope you guys are fine in your area, I like the setup !

You can go 20 feet above the house bracket, not including the mast... his install looks fine to me. .

It is secure, the guys who installed the main tower indicated the 20 foot rule was correct, this would be no more than 15 above the bracket. I have climbed it and had no issues and im a bit over 200 Lbs. As for bylaw, there is no bylaw in Oshawa concerning antenna towers as long as they are under 60' and not at the front of your house. I also checked with my neighbours (not that I really care or that they would have changed my mind) to be nice... that helps.. funny enough both of them want to do the same thing now when I demo'd the 30+ HD channels.

One thing about Oshawa is there are a ton of old houses and almost all of them have towers.

in Ottawa you would have to put your tower in the back yard anyways due to bylaws :(

True, though I was comparing it to a roof top antenna, which is permitted.

You can go 20 feet above the house bracket, not including the mast... his install looks fine to me. .
My point is that it would be better to add an extra section than have a long mast. I guess the long mast gives you the option of adding an extra antenna if necessary.

WZ1 it looks great - tidy and professional.

My concern is similar to roger1818's... I am fine with using a longish mast like that made of 18ga or 17ga extruded galvanized steel tubing if it holds just an antenna and preamp. Having said that, no matter what you have up there the issue is greater strain at the base of the mast where it emerges from the tower. You will be fine for the next few years or so but you could have a tip-over in a big wind storm some time in the years ahead as the metal slowly fatigues.

No need to climb up there or call the installers again at this point though, so it is just something to plan for the future, such as a stronger-walled galvanized pipe or an added section. Again it is a nice install! :)

Great install WZ1. You'll have to give us a run down of the 30+ HD channels.

I added a rotor and brought the Kitz KT-200 outdoors in a weatherproof enclosure (copied idea from peano which had very good pictures of his)

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/picture.php?albumid=589&pictureid=3196

Much better signal levels with a mast mounted preamp !

This setup is temporary for testing purposes only...

flavoie: Good install (even though a testing one). I like that you kept the rotor close to the antenna. Obviously you'll need to shorten the mast between rotor and tripod when you do the roof install (or use guy wires as well). It looks like the roofs peak nice and high in your area, so a roof install would likely be very effective.

The roofs indeed peak in pyramid fashion, and house are quite close to each other, which means i'll try to make the setup as unobstrusive of the street view as possible. The tripod used will be a slope tripod and not this one. This will allow me to put it on the back slope of the roof, making it less visible from the street. I'd want the antenna height to clear the roofs, and I wonder how much higher than the peaks i'll need to be ?

flavoie: I suppose it depends on what you hope to receive. My understanding is that in your area, there's a popular American network (ABC or FOX?) on VHF that can be tricky to receive. If you're aiming to receive that station, as much height as you can muster would be good. And with your VHF antenna on the very top of the mast as well...

Presumably your neighbours behind your home will see the an installation on the backside of the slope. So I don't see an advantage to not using the peak from an aesthetic perspective, but that's just me.

rooftop UHF antenna for US and local channels, VHF Lo/High attic antenna for locals. hardest to get channels, 18 then 23.

from an asthetics perspective, the antenna is less seen from the street with a slope tripod on the back slope since the view angle will hide it better from the street if the antenna is further away from the street. I'd want to clear the roof height, but not much more, hence my question about how much more is needed if i'm interested in UHF channels.

I'd climb your roof and look in the direction of the transmitters. See if you have any obstructions in line of sight to that direction. If a nearby roof is higher, you may want more height on your install. If everything is good, than you only need to get it high enough to clear the peak and be above any snow drifts that could accumulate there.

I'm sure you're aware, but I thought I'd mention this anyways: Given the pitch of the roof, be sure to use safety lines and equipment.

For my installations, I've walked the property with a GPS device to determine true compass directions. If you use a compass, be sure to account for current magnetic declination (it varies all of the time). Though I do believe TVFOOL factors in declination for you...

Here's another antenna setup at a friend's house in the NDG area I worked on this weekend for reception of VT, NY and Montreal stations, and hopefully as an encouragement to all those who get discouraged with reception of ABC (the proud new owner on the right of the picture seems excited).

http://img832.imageshack.us/img832/6772/3antennass.jpg

On top of the mast we used a Winegard YA1713 VHF antenna for WVNY.
Below that we used an AntennasDirect DB-8 for WCAX, WPTZ, WETK, WCFE and WFFF.
At the bottom we used an AntennasDirect DB-2 for Montreal stations.

The YA1713 and the DB-8 are combined with a UVSJ and run on RG6 coaxial cable into the living room. The DB-2 runs on a separate coaxial cable into the living room, where we combined it with the other feed.

We pick up ABC at 80% signal strength, CBS, NBC and Vermont PBS at 95% and Fox and Mountain Lake PBS at 85-90%. The only digital Montreal station so far is Télé-Québec at 85%. Fantastic result overall!

Im curious to know what is your receiver and what type of switch to combine
all the antennas together.

Thanks

hsantos,
the signal levels are read off an ATI TV Wonder USB tuner. Signal is now connected to a Samsung LCD TV (2010 model). The UVSJ to combine the YA1713 and the DB-8 is manufactured by Holland Electronics (purchased on SolidSignal). I used a regular Omega 2-way splitter to join the DB-2 with the other antennas.

schoenbe: I'm curious: Why is the DB-2 so low? Were you trying to avoid interference with the guy lines?

I was concerned about how low the bottom one is too, but mostly because of the fact that in Montreal it will get buried in snow a few times each winter! :eek: