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Imax and a tree?

A

atsoca

Member
Oct 25, 2005
3
0
11
Lynbrook NY
Hi all...
I'm thinking about putting my Imax into a tree in my backyard and am wondering about the mounting of it....
can I use lag bolts and screww it right into the tree or should I use metal bands around the tree?
will the tree effect the swr's?
I wanna get some hight. It is currently mounterd to my chimmney at around 20' or so to the base.
these trees are pretty big and should provide much better hight
also what about grounding the antenna in the tree?
thanx for any info or suggestions
Rob
 

Rob,
Lag-bolts or metal bands? Sort of depends on how much of a 'tree-hugger' you are. The lag-bolts can cause damage to the tree that may kill it (sort of doubt that, but I'm certainly no 'tree' expert). The metal bands can also cause damage but probably not as much as the bolts?
Grounding? Couple of ways to go about that. You could run a large wire from antenna to ground. Makes for a good electrical ground, but the particular length could play @#$$ as an RF ground. Another way is to ground the feed line at the base of the tree.
Will being mounted in a tree affect the antenna's SWR? Yes. It can/will change with the seasons, state of the tree's folage, and how much the tree 'wiggles' in the wind. Is it going to be enough to worry about? Probably not. I would suggest not using a palm tree on a tropical island subject to hurricanes as an antenna mount unless you pay lots of attention to the weather. Other than that, just use some common sense and care when climbing (if 'HE' had ever wanted me that far off the ground 'HE' would have given me wings or longer legs!).
- 'Doc
 
I did a imax in a tree a few times , a good 25 feet up and through the middle ,I used nylon rope , and a few large bungy cords , no damage to Mr Tree (-: I think that is so sneaky !! .....some guys can't have antenna's on there roofs or push ups , but that big old oak tree along side of the house will work every time. (-:
 
ok looks like it is gonna go up in the tree when I can get some help and a ladder here!
as for the grounding issue.... can ya tell me about grounding the feed line???
I have the antenna grounded now but not to the feed line I have it grounded to the aluminum mounting plate on the antenna and then to a 10' copper rod in the ground.
also 1 other question . I have a very high noise level here (7-10 s units) all the time it is all white noise as if I had the squelch open.
is there a way to quiet this thing down? it would help ALOT.
thanx again
Rob
KC2LMK
 
i had a A-99 topping out at 110ft in a oak tree when i was a just getting into this hobby and was still living with my folks. wht i used was chimmy straps ( or really big hoseclamps will work) and a floor support hanger to sit the bottom of the mast in to keep it from working its way down the tree . I never had to replace any of the straps or repositon the antenna at all. I put it in the tree (oak) in the summer of 95 i took it down lst month when my folks told me the were gona have to cut the tree down to add another room on the house . So I climbed up the tree cut the straps and took the antenna home. It still has a good match too after not being used for 3 year and being in a tree fot 10. Oh if you cnat find chimmney straps those ratacheting tie down straps at home depot will work too just wrap the exess strap around the mast and the tree it will give it more suport and keep it looking clean too . so if you have snobby neightbors they wont complain
 
Rob,
Grounding the feed line. There are a number of ways to go about that. The simplest would be to throw some money at it, get one of the thingys that goes in-line to ground the braid of the coax. If you're cheap like me, you might make one (doubel female type connector and tack a ground strap/wire to it's shell). Also wouldn't be a bad idea to bury the coax from the tree to the house. Wouldn't have to be any particular depth, just enough for the lawn mower to miss it, sort of. A lightning arrestor would work, depending on how it's made.
No idea why you have noise. Some high level noises are just there and there's not much you can do about them. Other noises can be reduced or gotten rid of. Hopefully, your's is the later kind. I'm sure you'll get all kinds of suggestions for 'curring' the noise problem, probably won't hurt to try them. If nothing else works you might see if 'MFJ' still sells the noise reduction device they once did. Haven't had my hands on one but have heard from several people that they do work. (Back to that 'cheap' thingy, whcih is why I never got one. Meant to though! - lol)
- 'Doc

PS - The 'tree hugger' thingy. If your particular tree(s) are rare, endangered, or it happens to be the last one of them, I don't think I'd mess with it. If it's a fairly common breed, then I'd do what I wanted to with it (within reason, naturally). Saves a lot of aggravation from neighbors, etc. (Personally, I like 'Charmen', don't have any interest in trying a 'plastic' type paper.)
Not responcible for spelling.
 
I will post pics of my IMAX in a pine tree later...It is currently up 40' on antenna pole which is cable tied to the tree with two ties every three feet. There is a #6 solid ground cable connected to the antenna mount, then run down the pole to an 8'ground rod driven into the ground. The rod is close enough that the antenna pole and the ground rod are clamped togather, and the #6 is connected to the clamp.

The coax is rg213,the run is 175' and it is buried from the tree to where it meets the house. There it is connected to a polyphaser in a weather proof houseing. It then enters the house, where it is connected to an assortment of equipment, all of which is grounded to a buss bar on the back of my desk, grounded to a ground rod just outside my office window(near the polyphaser) That rod is in turn connected to the ground rod which was already in place next to my electric company meter (approximitly 25').

So far, I have had no problems, and no bleeding into ANYTHING in my house, nor any of the houses near me, and I have asked them
 
I had a a99 with gpk in the top of a tree and replaced it with a imax2000 with gpk never had no trouble from either antenna i had 20ft of mast 10ft to get above the tree and 10ft to clamp to the tree i used both metal bands and regular mast clamps with lags.I ran a heavy gauge copper wire from bottom of mast down the tree to ground rod. It was 11 years ago i put up the a99 and the tree is still good and healthy
 

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