Hello Groupies, I had this question posed to me and I am looking for your opinions. The question below has been edited to protect the innocent....2 meter repeater......
73, Joe, K1ike ======================== I have a technical question with which I need assistance........ repeater has been at the water tower site, with the antennas on the water tower........After some consideration, the town has requested that we not return to the tower. ..... They have offered instead to install a seventy foot pole (telephone pole) for our use. The water tower is seventy-eight feet tall at the side, with a dome that adds approximately another five feet. We had mounted the antenna to a pole which adds another five feet. So that means the bottom of the antenna previously was at approximately eighty-eight feet. The telephone pole would be mounted outside of the fence which surrounds the water tower, approximately twenty to forty feet away from the tower. My technical question is this: how much interference or interaction should I expect from an antenna mounted seventy-five (or so) feet high, approximately twenty to fifty feet from a eighty-three foot metal and water (cylindrical) obstruction? And how high would the antenna have to be mounted to avoid any interference/interaction with the water tower? ========================= Here were my thoughts and reply to the question: You would probably suffer from shading in the direction of the water tank from the antenna. If the antenna was 20 feet from the tank and the tank is approximately 40 feet in diameter (not sure of this dimension) you would be blocked for about 90 degrees. That would be in the direction of the water tank. If you increased the distance to 40 feet from the tank, you would block approx. 35 degrees of coverage. (Check my math, that's just a quick guess.) So, -Yes, you would have some blockage of coverage. My estimates may be overrated. Signal will probably get around the tank, but will not be line-of-site. -Moving the telephone pole as far away as possible will minimize the blockage in coverage. -I don't think you will see any indications of electrical problems, such as VSWR, in either case. -In order to eliminate blockage, your antenna would have to be higher than the top of the water tank -Telephone pole installations rarely stay vertical, they usually tilt or the wood bows after time. You would be best to stay with a low gain antenna unless you want to periodically climb the pole a plumb the antenna. -Telephone poles are difficult to safely climb. See if they will step it for you with metal pegs. They can start the pegs 15" off the ground so the kids can't climb it. You would bring a ladder when you wanted to climb it. I don't think they have a bucket truck that goes 70+ feet? Who will climb it? -When they say "70 foot pole" do they mean installed, or is that the length BEFORE it is installed? -Make sure that you use an antenna mount that will be easy to adjust if you have to re-plumb the antenna. -Have the telephone pole installed so that the shadow is in an area that is not critical to your coverage. Place it as far from the tank as possible. -I don't think that an antenna mounted 70 vs an antenna mounted 88 feet is going to make a great difference. Both heights should clear the treetops. The main problem is going to be the steel tank in one direction.
