Best mast prices

[getstuff4less]

Hello,.

A 50 foot mast cost around $170 on Amazon.com. That's almost $100 more than the antenna costs! I need recommendations on a 25 through 50 foot antenna mast. Maybe Amazon isn't the best place to buy one.

 

[boba]

If you have a local retailer you might find a cheaper price but remember shipping is expensive wether it is separate or built into the price.

 

[getstuff4less]

Hello,
TV fool gives you a report that shows how much degrees your sparse for an antenna. I want to know where I can buy a signal detector or some type of device so I can easily and cheaply place my antennas at the correct degrees. I am going to buy a separate UHF and VHF antennas. I need to buy a signal combiner and do I need to buy separate amplifiers or what do I need? I'm kind of new to this.

I found the following on eBay.
If I buy a UHF and a VHF and I need to combine the signals like? Do I need to buy two separate amplifiers or can I just use one? If I buy the mast can I connect it to the side of the wall? Do I need to put it on the ground or can I put it on the roof to gain more signal strength?

I assume I need some sort of base and something to hold the polls and to buy guide wires. Can someone post a list of exactly the things I need to buy? I know which antennas I need to buy, but I need to know everything else.

Thank you!

 

[raoul5788]

getstuff4less - Pointing an ota antenna isn't like a satellite dish. Your best reception may not be right at the transmitter, and it can change a bit from day to day. You may want to invest in a rotor.

 

[harshness]

You may want to invest in a rotor.

Also, you need to figure in the weight and wind load of the rotor in your engineering calculations (whether you install one now or not).

$175 is wicked cheap for a free-standing mast that tall. If you haven't already, you should carefully review the installation requirements and instructions as it isn't just a matter of running up the extensions. They recommend 20 guy wires and 12 ground anchors for the 50 footer.

http://support.channelmaster.com/at...w/?name=1820_1830_1840_1850-Manual_3APR12.pdf

 

[boba]

A UVSJ will work for a UHF/VHF signal combiner. Read Harshness's referral and any thing else you can find about installing telescoping masts or towers, 50ft is not going to be easy.

 

[Mr Tony]

here is his other post with the tvfool report in it

http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/304174-Which-antenna-to-get

 

[Bob2011]

Channel Master has a 20 foot mast for $60 with decent shipping but the larger ones have high shipping costs. Your best hope is to find a deal on ebay or a used one off of craigslist. There are a lot of the old 36 foot radio shack telescoping masts out there so there is a good chance you could find one that is no longer needed. I have seen antenna towers used by ham radio operators for under a hundred dollars on craigslist but they can require some serious effort to install.

I looked at your TV fool in the other thread and my opinion is that you shouldn't dive into a large tower right away. The hills may shadow your home enough where even another 100 feet won't really help. Use the other mapping tool on TV fool, where it says "Start MAPS", and test different heights.

There are free plans online to build a coat hanger antenna that you could use to do some testing and see how accurate TV fool is for your situation. If you can find a spot on your property or roof that works well with this antenna then I would go to the next level with a larger antenna.

 

[getstuff4less]

How high a mast does a rotator support?

 

[Mr Tony]

normally you have a huge mast (guy wired), then the rotor then a short mast to mount the antenna too

at our lake house it was a 40 or so foot mast (guy wired), then the rotor which had a 5 foot mast attached to it

 

[harshness]

How high a mast does a rotator support?

It depends on how robust the rotor is, but most recommendations I've seen advise to keep the upper mast no longer than 40" without an auxiliary bearing. An auxiliary bearing cuts down on the side loading of the rotor, but it also requires the rotor to be mounted below the top of the main mast so that the auxiliary bearing can be mounted above it.

The shorter the better (up to the point where the rotor causes reception interference) as it reduces the lever arm that tries to split the rotor case apart under heavy wind loads.

Solid Signal has a nifty guide for OTA antenna mounting: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...tP_u-ohfDxyWKtA&bvm=bv.42261806,d.cGE&cad=rja