This antenna is a J-Pole antenna I purchased on the Internet in April, 2015 from Arrow Antennas after I arrived in Hawaii. I have a similar antenna in storage back on the mainland. I’ll leave this antenna here with someone who needs one when I leave in February, 2017.
HF Dipole MountI decided to put this antenna on top of a 16′ painter pole I was going to use for my HF dipole antenna. The dipole mount wouldn’t be in the way of attaching the J-Pole above it.
J-Pole Attached to the Painter PoleThe aluminum bracket to to attach the J-Pole fit nicely onto the painter pole. However, the bolts supplied by the manufacturer weren’t threaded the entire length and I ran out of thread before the bracket could be firmly attached. Another (!) trip to Ace Hardware to buy two more fully threaded bolts ($1.07 including tax) solved that problem.
Support Post Pounded Into the GroundI wanted the installation to be removable when I leave next February with literally no trace left behind. I decided to put a post in the ground, a PVC pipe on the post, and then insert the pianter pole into the PVC pipe. I could then attach the pole to the roof at the 10′ level and use two guy ropes at the 16′ level to help stabilize the pole. I bought a four foot dowel 1 1/2″ in diameter, cut a point into one end, and then pounded it into the ground about 18 inches. That would provide the bottom support. The house has a small sidewalk that goes along the side of the house. The edge of the roof overhang is directly above the edge of the sidewalk. Consequently the antenna pole would go straight up past the roof where it could be attached.
PVC Pipe SupportI next cut a four foot section of 1 3/4″ PVC pipe from Ace Hardware. That slipped over the dowel. The dowel stood about 2 1/2 feet above the ground. The painter pole would be inserted into the PVC pipe and rest on top of the dowel. The painter pole is about 1 5/8″ in diameter, a nice tight fit into the PVC pipe.
J-Pole Antenna ErectedThe painter pole is inserted into the PVC pipe, attached to the roof, and stands about 18′ tall. Two guy ropes go from the top down to the edge of the roof to provide additional stability (the picture was taken after the pole was secured to the roof.). The guy ropes are hanging down in the picture and were attached to the edge of the roof after the picture was taken. The ropes from the pulley are for the HF dipole antenna that will be put up next.
There are three repeaters in the area that can potentially be reached from my location. One is about a mile away at BYU-Hawaii campus. Another is thirteen miles west. That repeater is currently running low power because of a problem with the amplifier. When that gets fixed (it’s been down for several months) and I can finally hear it again, that repeater is linked into the state-wide emergency network of repeaters. Finally there’s another repeater nineteen miles south which I can now reach with this antenna.
