Been planning to move the 10-foot bamboo pole farther away from the house as recommended by PhilB, but wasn’t sure how to make it stand up.
Been planning to move the 10-foot bamboo pole farther away from the house as recommended by PhilB, but wasn’t sure how to make it stand up.
Propping it against a ladder was one idea, but then I wondered, why not just use a 10-foot aluminum ladder as an antenna?
Opinions?
Brain Action
I was looking out the Wintenna at the birdbath and noticed the two nicely stacked stacks of large concrete blocks, 8-inches by 12-inches by 2-inches per block, and realized that the sandwhich grip technique could be used so that those blocks would hold up the bamboo pole. To keep the pole from falling out of the crevice between the stacks two simple bricks will do.
It will be probably 4 or 5 feet from the back wall of the house and I’ll probably place the transmitter out there (during tests) on the blocks to avoid a long transmission line.
I’ll also put an FM receiver out there for an audio relay.
There is an outdoor outlet nearby.
According to informed sources tomorrow is going to be much colder but since when is that a problem for someone from Wisconsin.
I still want to know about the ladder antenna.
Sandbox Method…
Get two plastic drywall buckets full of sand. Put each leg of the ladder in one of the two buckets.
The buckets should be heavy enough to keep the base from moving and the plastic buckets will insulate it from ground.
Use some nylon rope at the top rung for guy wires to hold it from falling over.
Four Buckets
I’ll need four buckets of sand because it’s a self-standing ladder but it might be good.
Large Clay Flower Pot
Those large clay flower pots work great as well, and might be a better choice for forming the base as the clay flower pots are much heavier and quite thick, in turn creating a very stout base for that ladder antenna.
RFB