Rotator antenna installation

Or more properly, what are the best practices here? I apologize if these are stupid questions. I'm doing my planning months in advance so I can get the stupid ideas out of the way and know exactly what I need to do once I get started, probably this summer.

So thanks for any insights. Search for that on YouTube. N4UFO , Jan 3, KJ7VVK likes this. KS2G , Jan 3, Get this book and read it. Available on Amazon Now as to your plan, having erected numerous towers and masts including homebrewed ones like you have in mind I offer the following comments: 1.

A "screw together" pipe mast is not a great idea unless you pin each junction with a bolt. Over time the sections would unscrew otherwise. Without knowing the wind load of the antenna and rotator as well as the winds typical of your area it is impossible to say if the base you have in mind would be sufficient. But it is possible to say that anchoring the mast alongside the house and at the roofline with standoff brackets is a good way to cause structural damage to the house and have the mast collapse at the same time.

Properly mounted and guyed you should only need one set of guys above the house BUT attaching them to "steel rods" several feet in the ground will not be safe or sufficient. Guy anchors are made for such purposes and should be used. There are masts that can be raised and locked into place BUT they are commercially made and have a mast raising winch and are constructed so that the mast can not sway side to side as you raise the mast, rotator, and antenna.

There is a LOT of weight there and doing it by hand will get someone hurt. Towers with a mast raising fixture also allow you likely with a ladder to mount the rotator and antenna before raising everything all the way up.

The only other alternative is to raise the mast, hire a bucket truck, and then mount the rotator and antenna. Because the rotator will not be mounted on a mounting plate but with a lower mast bracket that reduces the sq ft of antenna that it will turn. It is not the rotator cable that needs slack. The rotator control wire attaches at the bottom or bottom side of the rotator and it is the top half of the rotator which turns. What is needed is a drip loop for the coax that feeds the antenna so as the antenna rotates there is enough slack to prevent the coax from becoming taut and being pulled apart.

Here is the bottom line. If to be legal you will need a building permit standby to be denied if you present your proposal for approval. Are there alternatives? Yes but they are expensive. There are commercially made towers The US Tower MA 40 comes to mind that come with engineering data to satisfy the building permit folks. That tower also has optional items such as a tilt up base with winch to make the task you envision much easier and safer.

Finally let me suggest a less expensive approach which I have used in the past. Buy a Roof Tower Tripod. A Rotor or Rotator is a mast-mounted, motor-driven device that permits the TV viewer to conveniently rotate orient the outdoor tv antenna in any direction to optimize reception of a desired TV channel.

Rotor installation tip: Always keep the mast pipe between the rotor and the TV antenna as short as possible. Ithaca , MI Phone: Email dithaca msn. Denny's Antenna home. Cash and Carry. Customer Service. TV antennas. Omnidirectional TV Antenna. Distribution Amplifiers. Download Brochure New entry-level rotator for light to medium-duty installations. Download Brochure Azimuth-Elevation combination for space communication antennas. DIN connection provided for computer operation. Maximum antenna wind load, 11 sq.

Download Brochure Elevation rotator for space communication antennas. Maximum antenna wind load, 12 sq. Download Brochure The G is designed to support and rotate and medium-size FM radio and antenna arrays under remote control from your living room. Please refer to Yaesu's "Rotators" brochure for complete wind load specification. Yes 23 Sq.