Antenna mast setup for HOA situation

Setting up an antenna can be easy, but living in an HOA restricted community can be rough. We have to have our Christmas decorations put away within 2 days after Christmas or we have to request an extension, we can’t park any cars on the street for a party without notifying the HOA, not to mention we cannot have a tower in our back yard to put up an antenna. Well, we have a perfect solution to get on the air and get a lot of different antenna types up without upsetting the powers that be. One of our customers, Earle Hancock W1IPN, sent us a picture of his setup and it is the perfect setup for many restricted applications that need rapid deployment and rapid take down.

20201103 - MK-6-HD - Tripod - Earle Hancock W1IPN - Max-Gain Systems, Inc.
MK-6-HD, 38 foot push up mast with a Tripod base

What mast was used?

The MK-6-HD, 38 foot push up mast was utilized. It has a maximum height of 38 feet when fully extended, but this would require guying. You could use the entire 38 feet if you were using a vertical wire antenna, but that would be all without attaching some guy line ropes. In order to use a larger antenna, like Earle did, he left the top tubes retracted about half way which allows for double wall thickness in the mast at those tube locations which increases the rigidity greatly. This achieved about 30-33 feet.

38 feet Heavy Duty Fiberglass Push-up Mast MK-6-HD 800x800 - Max-Gain Systems, Inc.

What Mount was used?

We developed a mega tripod mount for our line of (HD), (EXT), and (UHD) push up masts. Fully extended it can have a 104 inch stance which is very wide. If you are trying to achieve a guyless setup you are going to want to go with as wide of a base as possible. Earle opted to add an additional measure to his tripod legs by filling some fabric sandbags and laying them over the legs.

1x MK-6-HD, 38 foot Heavy Duty Fiberglass Push-Up Mast

1x GK-6HD-4-GR, Guying Kit for the 38 foot HD Mast (Guying kit for other setups – optional in this case)

1x M-TRIPOD-K, Tripod Mast Mount Kit

How would you store this away?

When you are done operating, walk out and use the lever lock system of the mast to lower the mast down. Depending on the antenna utilized you would either remove a larger antenna or coil up a wire antenna and tape it or tie it to the mast. With the mast fully retracted, loosen the bottom of the two collars on the tripod that is attached to the mast. Then collapse in the tripod legs and take your tripod and mast assembly to be stored in a closet. See the collapsed dimensions of the assembled tripod in the picture below. Having a mast in the tripod would add 18.5 inches sticking out of the top of the tripod for the stack of telescoping tube clamps. This would be a total length of about 85 inches. Just over 7 feet which makes it easy to store away.

Other Masts and Mounting products

With this setup, you can get up and on the air in no time, but it might not be the right setup for everybody. See all of our available masts ranging from 12 feet up to 50 feet, all mounting options, and all guying equipment here: https://mgs4u.com/fiberglass-push-up-masts/.

K5ND ARRL contest rig Drive On Mount and Heavy Duty Mast