Casper

This isn’t a very entertaining site. It’s mostly just for reference.

Basic Concept

The main advantage of a mesh is resiliance. The main disadvantage is inefficiency. Tower nodes can help with both sides. Height is might with line of sight radios.

Test Stand

I recommend doing small scale testing at first. Get a pole somewhere, and mount your theoretical tower node on it. See how it survives the weather. Once a node is up a tower, it may be years before it’s touched so everything has to be perfect. We do iterate as we learn lessons, but everything needs testing. Try never to deploy an untested node. Every tower node I put up should have a minimum of a week on a test pole to verify everything is running the way it should.

My test stand is a concrete stand intended for a bird bath. I shove a fence pole into it and strap the tower node to it.

You generally want to secure your node with U-bolts. Worm-Drive hose clamps aren’t bad for home or building installs. I can see it as secondary or safety strap for a unit on a tower. Stainless steel banding with banding buckles is preferable but not cheap or easy.

How do I get tower permission?

Firm handshake and maintain eye contact. Not really.

Join your local ham club, volunteer for anything you can, make it generally clear you’re sane and trustworthy. If you’ve never put anything up on a tower, there’s a lot to learn and it’s best to learn from existing installs. Ask for your club for permission, put one up with assistance. After you have a proven track record, it’s an easier sell to other tower owners, businesses and clubs. I waited until I was very comfortable and knew what I was doing before putting up in locations I didn’t own.

We go over the top to make sure it’s VERY clear to the tower owners that their property has my highest priority. We also don’t just ask for tower permission. We offer to do presentations, help out if the club needs or wants extra hobbies, try to get local folks to join the club, etc. Don’t just put up a node and ignore them. Word gets around, and at a certain point, they start beating on your door instead of you having to beat on their’s.

There is no magic shortcut.

Site Planning

I start by doing radio propagation sims from existing towers. Look for good locations (high with lots of visibility) where there isn’t already a node. If you can, go there and do some live testing.

Generally you’re not looking for one spot, you’re looking for a ridge line. Look on google maps and tower sites to look for tower owners in that area.

Nebra Strut

13 in and 23 in versions Angle iron on both ends

For the strut: one arm, centered on both sides, centering keeps from interferring with antennas on either side of enclosure,

On the enclosure side: 9 inches long angle iron, two mounting holes, centered width wise, 5/16 holes, 7.5 inches apart (190mm preferably),

On tower side: 9 inch long angle iron two 1.5 inch U-bolts

maybe gusset plates ?

Grounding

Grounding is half math, and half religion. And the holy tome is the Motorola R56.

You May Also Enjoy