So I have this concept/idea for part of my portable AREDN setup (still in development). It takes "inspiration" from when I worked for a local TV station.
On their live trucks was a big hydraulic mast and at the top was a dish antenna for pointing back to the station that could be aimed from the ground.. While I'd love to find one those trucks, I don't think my wife would approve, not to mention I don't have the garage space.
My question is does anyone have/know of/used something that would work and fit on a push up antenna mast?
Thanks
Jeremy KC3UXL
On their live trucks was a big hydraulic mast and at the top was a dish antenna for pointing back to the station that could be aimed from the ground.. While I'd love to find one those trucks, I don't think my wife would approve, not to mention I don't have the garage space.
My question is does anyone have/know of/used something that would work and fit on a push up antenna mast?
Thanks
Jeremy KC3UXL
I've seen remote towers for sale that are trailers, and they are $$$$$$$. Not in our budget, not to mention you have to be able to tow it to where you would setup. All the AREDN nodes I have seen are not aimable remotely, you have to have hands on. I've seen some lower priced (only about $10K) camera towers for football game film, but they are pretty flimsy and are intended to be actively aimed and would not hold up in bad weather.
A tower with sectors on it to provide coverage for an event has been discussed ... but you can accomplish much of what is needed by using tripods with some PVC pipe extensions. A long distance connection from a beam type node needs to be stable, so if you have LOS it won't hurt it to be closer to the ground and it's a lot easier to aim from the ground rather than way up in the air.
So yes, we've contemplated AREDN on extendable mast vehicles, but never done it. Easier, cheaper, and faster to use multiple stations with tripods in most cases. A lot depends on the topography and what you are trying to aim at, and what type node. Your results may vary.
Ed
The idea is to have a tower with multiple sector antennas providing large coverage. Then some smaller fixed stations (Club houses, EOCs, some QTHs) but also have a portable mast. I've seen relatively affordable push-up ones meant for antennas and flags. I was looking for a light weight Pan Tile mount that could hold say a LiteBeam M5 and have at least a little aiming.
I've seen the tv mobile masts as well.
I don't know if any of this helps. 73 Ed