# Will I have a 10 - 11 meter station with this combo?



## BPNJACK (Sep 24, 2015)

First off I thank you most kindly for your time.
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Cobra 150 GTL DX Night Watch (a gift) 
24ft Solarcon IMAXX 2000 w/Groundplane Kit 
Elevation of mast base is @ 452’
Support of mast will be 3/16” woven Dacron Polyester @ 8’ (w/bracket to house) - @16’(w/bracket on North gable end of house) - @24’ - @32’ using 5” diameter metal ring between pipe joints and ceramic insulators that will be tied 7” from the pole. 
Mast = 36’ of 4’ sections of 2” Aluminum military field mast set in concrete & clamped to 8’ grounding rod using about 6” of 8gag solid copper wire & brass grounding clamps. (I could add another 8ft to the mast if need be but that means 8ft longer coax and buying more guy rope.) I have read 36ft is optimal mast but also 40ft???
The cable will need to be 60 to 65ft long depending on where I come through the ceiling (don’t know what kind of coax is needed for that length?????)
(That is my plan unless you shoot me down on something…..or everything.)

Problem is, even though I’m on the end of a North facing ridge in central Arkansas with sloping land on 3 sides, I’m surrounded by 60’ to 90’ Oak and Pine trees. Push comes to shove I’m NOT going to cut down these 150+yr old trees (I counted the rings of one that a drought recently killed and it was 175yrs) so it is the tower that will go down (or not go up) unless some disaster kills the trees. 
That is all the info I can think of to give you but if I end up with a workable station I’m going to get a tech licenses and use the 10 - 11 meter bands to start with. If I have no station I see no need to get a licenses because I‘m not moving. 
Questions: 
1. Do you think I will have a base station with this setup? 
2. All the pictures I can find of the ground plane kit have it mounted to the top holes of the bracket but that puts it about a foot higher than the bottom of the antenna. So top or bottom holes? 
3. Should the mast measure 36’ to the top of the pole or to the bottom of the antenna? 
Thanks!


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## dademoss (Aug 6, 2011)

To transmit with your Cobra 150-GTL will require at least a Technician class ham ticket, and for more frequency coverage a General ticket.

You can use the 60-90 foot trees to hang a great dipole antenna for 10 meters.

I would personally forgo the vertical antenna and go with a horizontal dipole, but it all depends on your end goals.

If all the preceding is nothing but noise , visit the ARRL ( http://www.arrl.org/ 
) and study for your tech license before you make any decisions


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## ENIGMA6 (Apr 16, 2011)

Suggest you avoid setting aluminum mast poles in concrete, as I believe it will cause the section in the concrete to corrode badly. Plus if you seal the bottom water will collect insi, and you'll need an antenna tuner.de and if it freezes, will split your mast. Better to set a steel spike in the concrete and wrap it with plastic or a plastic sleeve, and slide the mast section over it. If you have dissimilar metals in contact, this also creates a corrosion problem. How about using fiberglass mast sections if you must use a vertical antenna? If you are wanting to talk to mobile units or walkie talkies, a vertical antenna is best, but if it's distance you want, hang a horizontal dipole between two of your trees. Use a pulley on one or both ends with weights to keep the dipole taunt, and feed it with 450 ohm ladder line for much reduced line losses than coax, and cheaper too. However, your dipole must be designed for ladder line, and you'll need an antenna tuner.


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## Bob_Hayles (Jan 13, 2017)

I have an Antron 99 that I have connected to a switch so I can use two radios on it. Switched to Cobra 148 GTL I get 20-25 mile range with no amplifier, and I can switch to my Kenwood TS-130S HF rig and talk on 10 meters well. From north Georgia going west I hit Texas to California easily and have hit Australia, New Zeland, and Japan. Going east I hit eastern Europe (old Soviet bloc countries) and the west coast of Africa.

Bottom of the antenna is 20 ft off the ground, it has no ground plane kit on it, and I'm surrounded by 60 ft hardwoods and 80 ft pines.

You are overthinking.


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## bkt (Oct 10, 2008)

Get your Tech ticket. It's easy and cheap (often free) to do. Once you have it, you can experiment freely with optimizing your setup.

Bob_Hayles is right - don't overthink it. You'll find out what you can hit where you are easily enough once you can broadcast. Then you can decide what to change.

HF is great for long distance, but don't rule out VHF and UHF as options for closer (~30 miles) reliable communications. It all depends what you want to be able to do, of course.


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## Bob_Hayles (Jan 13, 2017)

To me the best prepper setup is a CB with a good antenna (Antron 99 is my choice), a 2 meter with a good antenna (I use an aluminum J Pole I bought off eBay for about $25-30, shipping included), and HF 75 meters (a wire dipole at about 50-60 ft).

Why?

CB to know if the zombies are within walking distance...<25 miles.

2 meter to have a semi-local network to keep up with zombie locations accessable thru repeaters for <100 miles or simplex <75 miles.

75 meters to cover out to about 500 miles to see if its the cavalry or more zombies forming up at a distance.


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