TV antenna cement footing mount some questions

[DXER24]

I have a VU90 XR antenna from Radio Shack that I plan on ground mounting in my back yard since my parents won't allow me to mount it to the house. The antenna its self will be about 20ft in the air and easy to take down. I was thinking of setting a piece of pipe in the ground about 5 or so feet with a cement footing around it and staking my mast on top of it. I was thinking the piece of pipe in with a footing would be easier incase I want to switch over to a telescoping mast. About how much cement will I need for this task, what kind of cement, and what how far down should the footing be? I appologize for the lengthy post and really appriciate the help in advance

 

[ChiefEngineer]

From the been there done that... cause dad hated antennas department.

The problem with the mounting is related to the wind load. If the mast is only secured at ground level to 20 feet this may or may not be sufficient for your load vs wind.

Radio stations use the 30 foot push up pole at less than 30 feet with the sections less than full height to strengthen the pole without guys. mixed results. Designed for guys so using them without is risky.

A better solution is a pole in the ground and guy anchors. Tractor Supply has "fence anchors" that are corkscew type that are manually screwed into the ground. Use a radio shack or similar push up pole with a collar for guy anchors. No concrete, Isaac Newton develops the gravity for the pole to stay down, anchors hold the pole and antenna in place. With the cost of metal these days tower might be an undiscernable difference.

The ratio is 60 % guying under many circumstances. 10 foot antenna, guy anchor (x3) is 6 feet out. 20 foot, guy (x3) at 12 feet. make sure you don't place a guy anchor into the roof. This makes placement near the house troublesome as the guys are at 3 locations evenly spaced around 360 degrees. Mower issues and maybe other problems developed by guy wires. Electric wires kill stupid people. Electric wires kill everyone. BE CAREFUL.

Placing a mounting bracket on the house with proper fasteners might be safer and less trouble.

If your parents will allow concrete, why not look at a standard rohn 20 g base in the ground with a 3x3 hole and concrete. Place 20 feet of tower on this. No connection to the house and very secure. tower new is about 125 a section and 100 for the base. mix your own concrete in the hole using sacrete available in 80 lb bags at any supply house. People sometimes hit 30 feet with this installation. Wind load is the factor.

 

[RolfTaylor]

Look into a vent pipe mount. Maybe you can convince your parents to allow that since it doesn't require any holes.

 

[DXER24]

From the been there done that... cause dad hated antennas department.

The problem with the mounting is related to the wind load. If the mast is only secured at ground level to 20 feet this may or may not be sufficient for your load vs wind.

Radio stations use the 30 foot push up pole at less than 30 feet with the sections less than full height to strengthen the pole without guys. mixed results. Designed for guys so using them without is risky.

A better solution is a pole in the ground and guy anchors. Tractor Supply has "fence anchors" that are corkscew type that are manually screwed into the ground. Use a radio shack or similar push up pole with a collar for guy anchors. No concrete, Isaac Newton develops the gravity for the pole to stay down, anchors hold the pole and antenna in place. With the cost of metal these days tower might be an undiscernable difference.

The ratio is 60 % guying under many circumstances. 10 foot antenna, guy anchor (x3) is 6 feet out. 20 foot, guy (x3) at 12 feet. make sure you don't place a guy anchor into the roof. This makes placement near the house troublesome as the guys are at 3 locations evenly spaced around 360 degrees. Mower issues and maybe other problems developed by guy wires. Electric wires kill stupid people. Electric wires kill everyone. BE CAREFUL.

Placing a mounting bracket on the house with proper fasteners might be safer and less trouble.

If your parents will allow concrete, why not look at a standard rohn 20 g base in the ground with a 3x3 hole and concrete. Place 20 feet of tower on this. No connection to the house and very secure. tower new is about 125 a section and 100 for the base. mix your own concrete in the hole using sacrete available in 80 lb bags at any supply house. People sometimes hit 30 feet with this installation. Wind load is the factor.

Thanks Cheif engineer, I have thought about that last option and possibly guying it at the 20 ft level. is there any way to run the guy wires into the ground using four 3 foot stakes? I want to be able to take it down with ease as well for maintnence. Rolf Taylor I'm afraid my parents won't allow it on the roof either. they want it on the ground so incase I have to do maintnence on it I don't have to keep climbing on the roof. If I had an option I would do the vent mount. but trying to make both me and my parents happy and my dad said he would help me with taking it down if it is ground mounted. I appriciate all the help

 

[littlejohn]

The screw in anchors (house trailer tie - downs) are not a lot harder to get up than the stakes, and they will take a LOT more pull. Consider using them instead of stakes of any length.

 

[ChiefEngineer]

From the been there done that... cause dad hated antennas department.

The problem with the mounting is related to the wind load. If the mast is only secured at ground level to 20 feet this may or may not be sufficient for your load vs wind.

Radio stations use the 30 foot push up pole at less than 30 feet with the sections less than full height to strengthen the pole without guys. mixed results. Designed for guys so using them without is risky.

A better solution is a pole in the ground and guy anchors. Tractor Supply has "fence anchors" that are corkscew type that are manually screwed into the ground. Use a radio shack or similar push up pole with a collar for guy anchors. No concrete, Isaac Newton develops the gravity for the pole to stay down, anchors hold the pole and antenna in place. With the cost of metal these days tower might be an undiscernable difference.

The ratio is 60 % guying under many circumstances. 10 foot antenna, guy anchor (x3) is 6 feet out. 20 foot, guy (x3) at 12 feet. make sure you don't place a guy anchor into the roof. This makes placement near the house troublesome as the guys are at 3 locations evenly spaced around 360 degrees. Mower issues and maybe other problems developed by guy wires. Electric wires kill stupid people. Electric wires kill everyone. BE CAREFUL.

Placing a mounting bracket on the house with proper fasteners might be safer and less trouble.

If your parents will allow concrete, why not look at a standard rohn 20 g base in the ground with a 3x3 hole and concrete. Place 20 feet of tower on this. No connection to the house and very secure. tower new is about 125 a section and 100 for the base. mix your own concrete in the hole using sacrete available in 80 lb bags at any supply house. People sometimes hit 30 feet with this installation. Wind load is the factor.

Thanks Cheif engineer, I have thought about that last option and possibly guying it at the 20 ft level. is there any way to run the guy wires into the ground using four 3 foot stakes? I want to be able to take it down with ease as well for maintnence. Rolf Taylor I'm afraid my parents won't allow it on the roof either. they want it on the ground so incase I have to do maintnence on it I don't have to keep climbing on the roof. If I had an option I would do the vent mount. but trying to make both me and my parents happy and my dad said he would help me with taking it down if it is ground mounted. I appriciate all the help

The corkscrew type anchors are good and the stakes are worthless. My first 100 foot tower used the trailer tie downs. Depending on your location these are not as easy to get as the fence type.

Tractor Supply sells these as fence anchors. Home depot sells a version but much more expensive. The TS version (or any home and farm store) has galvanized versions that all in all will be less than $7 each. I think I paid $5.

I use these to anchor ez up tents, steady a push up pole at remotes, etc. I have some of the heavy duty versions (3 foot as opposed to the 12 inch version) in place on a 50 foot tower on a translator and I am sure these won't be pulled out easy in Indiana clay. This set has been up through many windstorms (on the 50 foot tower - Rohn 25 G) and when I have checked no change in depth or solidarity. No concrete - none.