Home brew crank up antenna mast
9 Mtr Aluminium Antenna Mast
Warning ! Please do not attempt a project of this nature if you do not feel competent and remember if it falls it could cause serious injury or death.
The mast is made from lightweight aluminum square hollow section purchased from www.aluminiumwarehouse.co.uk ,it is suitable for small vhf / uhf beams and lightweight hf wire beam arrays such as the moxon, hex and spider beam.
With the following considerations in mind.
- Home construction
- No welding required
- Bolt together
- Lightweight
- Low visual impact
The mast described is a four section easy build low visual impact antenna support for light weight antenna arrays, it is only 4 meters high and extends to a height of 9 meters when raised, when used with a suitable rotator support cage additional hight is easily achieved.
The four sections of the mast are constructed from light weight aluminium box section with plastic and tuffnoll spacers, the pulley wheels are cast steel with holders made from 40X40mm aluminium angle.
Section 1 - 2.5mtr long, 150 X 150 X 3mm aluminium box section.
Section 2 - 2.5mtr long, 100 X 100 X 3mm aluminium box section.
Section 3 - 2.5mtr long, 75 X 75 X 3mm aluminium box section.
Section 4 - 3.5mtr long, 50 X 50 X 3mm aluminium box section.
The wall mount bracket / cradle is made from 41mm x 41mm unistrut channel, the big boys meccano, this stuff is great, available in various sizes and lengths up to 6 mtr, cut and bolt the possibilities for this stuff are endless.
The following details are not intended to be a step by step construction plan for a 4 section mast, the mast is fixed and does not tilt to allow access to work on the antennas at low level, but it is only 4mtr's high when lowered so accessible with a ladder.
My ideas are intended as " HOW I DID IT " and hopefully will provide a starting point if you are considering building a mast yourself, this is the Mk 2 version with plastic guides, the Mk 1 used aluminium guides, Aluminium On Aluminium Sticks & Jams.
The mast has been in use for the past 4 years and has served me well at the fraction of the cost of a commercial made mast.
Bottom view of the assembled sections showing tuffnol guides, each wire is triple clamped for added safety.
Top view of the assembled mast
The mount and cradle is constructed from unistruct channel, just cut and bolt.
The rotator support cage is made from m16 threaded stud rod, two aluminium plates, unistrut and sealed bearing. The cage slots into the top 2 inch section and the top bolt can be removed to enable the whole assembly and antenna to be tilted to work on the antennas if required.
