>RE: Ham Shack Design? Reply
by KT8K on April 6, 2005 Mail this to a friend!
From my experience, the chimney is not a great place to attach any more than a small 2 meter vertical or the end of a dipole (well, I probably would attach it to the eaves - chimneys aren't designed for much lateral loading). Antennas tend to vibrate in the wind, and the vibration can cause the mortar between the bricks to crack and fall out. A chimney repairman told me (as he worked to tear down and replace MY chimney) that TV antenna chimney mounts had brought him more business than anything else -- that says something.<
Agreed, but it depends a lot on the chimney, and also where you happen to live.
Here in L.A., chimneys are designed and built to withstand earthquakes, and most of them do -- very well. As such, there's a lot of plastic in the mortar, that makes chimneys extremely resiliant. Not so in many other places.
For those who can't or don't want to dig a foundation for a serious tower, the Glen Martin aluminum roof towers are pretty good. Although I have a ground-mounted galvanized steel telescoping tower also, the G-M roof tower, a 4-legged assembly that straddles the roofers just perfectly, installed on my roof peak helps provide additional antenna mounting space. It's strong but lightweight (all angle aluminum alloy stock), won't ever rust, tilt-over and climbable. A recommended option.
WB2WIK/6