While we're on the topic of galvanized, I've said it before in this thread and I'll say it again:

if you intend to weld, angle grind, plasma cut, blowtorch, or otherwise heat up galvanized steel you need to be in a very well ventilated area or you will get very ill if you inhale any of that. Wear a respirator or at the very least make sure you are upwind!

Cold galvanized steel is okay to work with in typical ways like drilling, pounding, saw cutting, etc.

hey all,

I am so very new to OTA and I have been doing some reading well a lot of reading and I am now at the point where I need to decide on how to mount my antenna. I do not yet own a HD TV and with the imminent arrival of a new baby I don't expect to be getting an HD TV anytime soon. So I'll be using an antenna like the CM-3671.

So my question is do I get a tripod or do I get a tower and put that up next to my house? Some things I think are important are, the antenna will need a rotor, I have some taller houses, trees and hydro lines behind my house in the direction of all the US stations :). Also directly south and maybe 2km away is an airport (I'm not worried about height but interference).

Also I'd like to keep costs down until I can prove the quality to my skeptical wife :)

Thanks,
Rob

If you go with a tripod for a huge antenna like your CM-3671 you'll need to ensure that the lag bolts through the tripod's feet are directly sunk into the roof joists nice and deep or else the wind load could loosen the shingles' underlying plywood sheeting over time, or in the case of a sudden, very powerful wind storm maybe even rip out that plywood!

For the above reasons, most installers will recommend a tower instead, and I agree. :) Even if you're on a flight path, a tower that is 10' to 20' above your roofline will not be of any concern to airport authorities unless you are at the very end of the runway. :D

Thanks stampeder that is exactly the advice I was looking for. I was leaning towards a tower but I didn't know if I needed to go that far or not. Now that I know the question is do I go ask a neighbour for their unused tower and move it or get one installed.

As for the airport... if a plane is going to hit my 10-20 foot tower I've got bigger problems than loosing my antenna :)

There are things called roof towers that are able to handle larger antennas. They look like big tripods but beefier.

Surprisingly a tower may be more cost effective especially if you can find a used one for cheap (or free). Peferably you'll want one that's already on the ground. Your only cost will be for new hardware and cement for the hole (which you can dig yourself).

Well I went driving around my neighbourhood last night and I found a handful of towers still up. Some have no antenna, some have antenna's or whats left of them anyways and a few look like they might still be in use.

I think I'll knock on a few doors and see if anyone is interested in getting rid of a tower.

Mr. Weather, you mentioned concrete in a hole, how deep should the hole be? Do I need to get below the frost line?
Also does anyone have a good guide on how to properly take down an tower?

Thanks

Depending upon the tower and the surrounding environment, cutting off a leg of the tower while keeping the tower tethered can be the easiest way to take it down. You then loosen the tethers to let it fall in the direction you want. You lose a little bit of height from the tower (1 ft or so) but at least you can work on all the rusty fasteners while it's lowered. Taking it down piece by piece isn't too bad, but it can be scary for high towers. Safety equipment is not only recommended for this task, it's absolutely mandatory. An extra helper is good to have as well.

An extra helper is good to have as well.Always the best option. :) rlongfield, also keep in mind that with over 1,100 posts in this thread there are very valuable previous posts on the topics of used towers, tower disassembly, best practices, etc. This thread is a gold mine. :)

Mr. Weather, you mentioned concrete in a hole, how deep should the hole be? Do I need to get below the frost line?
Ideally, yes. There is a Taco/Delhi technical sheet floating around that says for a self-supporting tower the hole should be 4' deep and 8" wider than the tower legs. Most tv-type towers (tubular legs) are not self-supporting and would not require such a large hole.

I think I'll knock on a few doors and see if anyone is interested in getting rid of a tower.Free towers pop up on Craigslist and Kijiji from time to time. I tend to see them more often in the spring.

Here's one from today in the GTA and looks fairly new:
http://toronto.en.**************/tor/zip/1444094213.html

I will soon receive my 4221HD. It's my fifth OTA antenna :p

Anyways, I want to mount it bellow my 10y13s on a 10 feet pole attached to a chimney mount ( Heavy Duty Delhi ).

5 feet of the pole is above the chimney top but I wish to mount the 4221HD on the 5 feet in front of the chimney ( it would be pointed directly at the transmitter ).

Is that too much of a load for the chimney and the mount to have the 4221hd and 10y13s?

On the other side of the chimney I have my an other chimney mount for my tower but it's only for extra security because the tower is mounted at two other place on the side of the wall of the house with brackets.

The chimney mortar has been redone this year.

Thanks,

The chimney mortar has been redone this year.That's good to know - you're chimney will be fine with both of those antennas on them. I've seen chimney mounts with much bigger combo antennas that have lasted twenty years or more, so you'll be fine. :)

Intravino: Curious why you'd install a UHF below a VHF antenna?

The 10y13s is in a sweet spot.

I could also install the cm4221 on the tower above my two VHF antennas ( 10y13s and HD-6000 ). I guess putting the 4221 below the 10y13s could screw up my VHF reception?

The only problem now with putting your CM4221 above those VHFs is getting around them to reach that high! :)

Should I put the 4221 bellow the 10y13s on the same pole or above the 10y13s and behind on the tower structure ?

Normally it is best to mount a VHF below a UHF, but your case is quite different because of the hard time people have with ABC on 13 in your area and the fact that you have found the sweet spot for it.

You probably shouldn't do anything to change your 10y13s's reception now, so I'd go ahead and mount the CM4221 where you first want to try it and then just test that 13 is still strong on the 10y13s.

With the low VHF ERP's, we may have to rethink mounting of dual antenna setups. ;)
But generally, VHF arrays are mounted lower than UHF for two reasons: (a) UHF tends to propagate for shorter distances (requiring more gain), and (b) VHF antenna tend to be larger, and consquently present more wind load. You typically don't want your heaviest antenna up the highest.

The task: I bought an antenna. I live with many trees and homes around me. I need to put this antenna on my chimney.

The problem: I have about an 18 foot ladder. I can only get onto my first storey part of my roof, yet the second storey roof if was too high up. I cant even leap or climb from one roof to another. Getting through windows won't work either.

I've seen many great setups around here on chimneys, and I'm wondering how anyone got that high, especially because I assume nobody has a fifty foot ladder lying around


Thanks! :)
Taylor

Starting with asking your neighbours,... assuming you know them well enough. You might be surprised what little Old Miss Daisy has stuffed in her garage.

Depending on where you are, try a tool rental place. I've seen BIG ladders for rent at a Stephenson's Rental (common in the GTA). Of course you have to get it home and back to the store on your own. And depending on how long/often you use it, it might end up cheaper to buy one, especially if you start wanting to tweak your gear every few years/months/days :o. YMMV.

Other than that, try installing a tower. Use the tower to climb on the second storey roof. Then install your gear on the chimney. Use the tower to climb back down. ;) Just Kidding.

Good Luck with your install.