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RTK antenna poles
We have a 30′ tower we use on some projects when needed but most of the time we use these on top of a wooden tripod.
SECO Six-Foot Snap-Lock Radio Antenna Pole | GPS Antenna Tripods / GPS Antenna Masts
They don’t seem to last. We have broke two of the snap lock mechanisms this year and they are not exactly cheap.
Looking for something better and perhaps slightly taller but not extremely tall that would require guy wires or topple the tripod. Any suggestions?
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18 Replies
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I use 4ft sections of aluminum poles that I can stack on top of each other to raise antennas, prisms and/or both higher because they are more stable than any extension type I’ve tried.
They can also be used to extend bipods with two or three legs.
Sometimes I have to get creative on the gender matches to really get a tall setup together for those important points.
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Brandon,
How about a repeater? I’m using one at a solar farm project in Southern Nevada. Our base is near the office trailer in the center of the project and we use the repeater for work in the basins and far ends of this miles-square monster.
Dave
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It seems to me that a lot of the Seco gear is just a bit too light weight to handle the real day to day.
We have the same problem with those radio poles, and the carbon fibre prism poles dont last.
Even when you take extra care they just dont seem to be up to the job – let alone giving them to the usual ham-fisted graduates and techs we have.
Its like they actually want to force us to buy new ones every year…
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I use a painters pole. Not sure how long exactly but about 4.5 metres.
I have the top half of an old aluminium prism pole that fits over the top of the paint pole. Has 5/8″ screw on top.
Gets me up over 5 metres.
I drilled a hole through both and push a roof nail (spring head nail) through both.
Tie to fence or another set of legs. If latter belt in a piece reo and tie to bottom of pole.
Works extremely well and dirt cheap.
And it’s robust. -
jim.cox, post: 339215, member: 93 wrote: It seems to me that a lot of the Seco gear is just a bit too light weight to handle the real day to day.
We have the same problem with those radio poles, and the carbon fibre prism poles dont last.
Even when you take extra care they just dont seem to be up to the job – let alone giving them to the usual ham-fisted graduates and techs we have.
Its like they actually want to force us to buy new ones every year…
I wish Seco hadn’t bought Crain. I much preferred their prism poles, rods, etc.
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We use Hixon 25ft prism pole with bi-pod.
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davidgstoll, post: 339214, member: 6999 wrote: Brandon,
How about a repeater? I’m using one at a solar farm project in Southern Nevada. Our base is near the office trailer in the center of the project and we use the repeater for work in the basins and far ends of this miles-square monster.
Dave
We have thought about a repeater but have avoided it due to the added cost of a another radio. Most my projects I have no problem getting radio to the whole area when using my 10 meter telescoping metal mast. We have a gooseneck trailer we haul our UTV’s on and have welded up a bracket to hold the mast. It works well and is easy to set up. Two of the guy wires connect straight to the trailer and thus just one stake to pound.
I was mainly trying to find a better solution to the snap lock poles for the small jobs where we don’t take the trailer / mast and just put the antenna on a tripod. Sometimes also when we have difficulty getting radio on the big jobs with the 10 meter antenna tower we will use the snap lock pole and antenna on the rover end. It makes a huge difference over the rubber duck antenna.
I think I will order some 4′ range poles and try that. At $30 a piece they seem like a good solution. I was unaware that they had the 5/8″ male on one end and female on the other so they should work great.
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I wonder if something like this could be adapted:
http://www.amazon.com/20-Telepole-Superior-Telescoping-Flagpole/dp/B00J15P2PI -
Here’s a radio-mast assembly that was well accepted by Inland GPS customers back in my Trimble-dealer days.
Some advantages –
Quick setup – no threading necessary; everything simply slips together
No guying needed – small sail area and it withstands gale-force winds without difficulty
Good radio coverage – the base of the radio antenna is a full ten (10) feet above ground
Cheap to fix – the tubes are 3/4-inch electrical metal tubing (thinwall conduit) which is available everywhere for about $4 for a 10-foot piece
Short radio-antenna cable – easier to handle and less loss
Compact – takes up very little space in the vehicle
If someone here wants to be a manufacturer and produce this system I will provide my drawings and other information. I also have some of the stainless steel parts left over.
If there is interest in this I will start another thread with more photos.
GB
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Thanks to Glenn, We had one of these. They were great!
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We use 4′ sections of range poles also. Maybe not the best solution but we already had them so it was cheap.
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I like using a 25′ fiberglass level rod with a 5/8″ adapter on the top. We would pound 2 stakes in the ground on either side of the level rod and then clamp everything together. Never had issues with it falling over in wind and really easy to set up, just need a longer antenna cable.
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I have a system from here on order, will be here in a few days. I have used this antenna mount from them before, that is VERY high quality, so decided to go with their whole system for tripod mounting a RTK radio mast.
Lots of SECO stuff out there in use, including some at my shop, BUT I have always found it to be on the “cheaper” side and am using less and less of it over time.
SHG
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I use the center portion of the Seco antenna tripod similar to this:
Product Detail (Seco Tripod with Antenna Mast .)
but I mounted it on a flat plate so I can screw it down to my own tripod. I have the heavy wooden tripod in the truck for the robot anyway.
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I use the center portion of the Seco antenna tripod similar to this:
Product Detail (Seco Tripod with Antenna Mast .)
but I mounted it on a flat plate so I can screw it down to my own tripod. I have the heavy wooden tripod in the truck for the robot anyway.
If I’m close to a fence, I will use a 25′ level rod tied to a fencepost with bungee cords but not at full height, my coax is not that long.
James
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Fantastic. I was just thinking about doing this to save some truck space.
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Big Brown brought my setup from GPS Precision Accessories today, looks to be very high quality components, I only ordered a 3′ mast, BUT it is just basically a heavy duty stainless steel range pole, so additional sections could be threaded on or even existing range pole sections added for more height.
The components are heavy, but look made to last, I think these pieces will last a long time.
SHG
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Here’s what I use:
It’s just an 8-foot length of gas pipe with some welded brackets that let me lock everything together.
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