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Since I've been slowly building my ham shack, my temporary location for radio operations continues to be the master bedroom closet. For HF this isn't too bad, because it is only a short distance to the feed-point of the long-wire antenna I'm temporarily using for those bands (I talked about putting up my current version last fall.) For VHF/UHF however, I've been limited to this arrangement:
While this has worked fine for the local repeater, it limits me because:
- Indoor antennas for VHF and UHF are almost always poor performers
- Its only like 2 feet from my head, so I'm rather restricted on the power I can run through it.
Ultimately, the plan was to put my VHF and UHF antenna's on a mast on the roof, because I'm fortunate enough to live right near the crest of a small hill, in a relatively flat area, which means I don't have to get very high to be clear of obstructions for quite a few miles in all directions - in fact, I only need to get a few feet above my own roof to clear my own trees!
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A while back I decided to just get the stuff ordered to put the mast up, figuring that I can feed the coax into my temporary shack while I continue work on the permanent one in the basement. With that though, I was off to the roof!
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I ended up ordering a channel master eve bracket from Amazon, because it was the best price I found, and it was one of the few that would accept a 2" mast. Now, I don't need a 2" mast, but I always prefer to have things over-engineered whenever possible. After it came, like most projects, it sat in my garage for 2 months!
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Per the directions, I started by holding the top bracket in place at the peak of the eve, and using a torpedo level to make sure it was straight. After marking the holes, and pre-drilling, I installed the bracket (with just a dab of silicone to seal things up!).
P.S. Apparently this is the spot the birds like to sit while they survey our garden....
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Putting this bracket on first, allows you to assemble the bottom bracket, attach it to the mast, and then position the bottom bracket by sliding the mast up through the top bracket and tightening it down. This basically "hangs" the bottom bracket from the mast and top bracket, so that you can freely position, level, and then screw the bottom bracket fast. Easy!
After tightening everything down, I have a mast in place! Like many other hams, time is limited, so it will probably be a couple weeks before I order an antenna and get it mounted (or even just temporarily mount the thing that I'm using inside.) I think I'm going to claim that the delay is on purpose - this way if any neighbors complain about interference, I can shoot them down - "There's not even an antenna on it yet!"
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
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