After letting the concrete harden over the weekend, Jimmy “The Handyman” came over on Monday. We pulled out the forms and filled in the hole. There was just enough dirt to be able to fill the hole, but I’m sure it’ll settle and compact. I really appreciated Jimmy’s help. I can get the rest of the project done now.
Yesterday I drilled a hole in the rigid conduit and the 4×4’s but ran out of time. This morning the next step came together. The holes lined up (!!) and the pivot point is in place.
So, the first ten feet of mast is ready. Twenty-five feet left to go!
The remaining steps?
- Get three more lengths of rigid conduit from Home Depot, nineteen carabiners, and 100′ of paracord
- Cut one of 10′ lengths of rigid conduit to a six-foot length (put the 4′ section aside for some possible future project)
- Screw the two 10′ sections and the one 6′ section together with the section already installed. Make sure they’re tight
- Install a hook about 12′ up for the messenger line coming from the house
- Tie carabiners every foot and a half along the paracord messenger line. The two coax cables will ride along the messenger line in the carabiners. The messenger line length is 29 feet from the house to the mast
- Install the pulley for the G5RV center and pull rope
- Install the 2-meter J-pole
- Measure (thrice), mark (twice) and cut the coax to length
- Install connectors on both ends of the coax cables
- Thread the coax cables through the carabiners
- Connect the coax for the J-pole to the J-pole
- Lift the mast upright and secure to the 4×4’s
- Secure the bottom of the window-line for the G5RV antenna. The window-line needs to be at least six inches away from the conduit so they don’t interact
- Connect the coax to the G5RV antenna
- Pull the center of the G5RV antenna upright
- Cheer and celebrate
- Try out the antenna!!