Years ago I built a mobile antenna mount for a big Screw driver type mobile… it was not intended to be used will on the road, only when we were stationary at some point… The structure I built was hinged at the bottom and would lay down, and had a sliding push up to get the old antennas coil above the rig roof…
At this point it was on the old RV, mounted to the hitch extension by big Ubolts. and not pushed up so the antennas was below legal height and protected…
I had it mounted similar on the new RV – on the hitch with grounds and such but that was in the way of the Rigs Engine access (being I had moved from a gas engine to diesel pusher)…
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That was the base piece with out the laydown-push up part… but I had always needed to get it out of the way and since I did not use it mobile it could be stored away till I was able to do a little radio so? looking for options I figured I would need to build something else, I played with ideas about drive over ground mounts, looked for structure underneath the RV, etc… then I saw it… the big mud flap was put on with a huge 2×2 box tubing piece bolted to the frame – very solid and secure? I played a little and ground down a bad weld over run on the one end and the hitch extension I had form earlier days fit perfect… hum… ok, so can I cut the bottom off the other piece and swing it so it was out of the way of the side access compartment, etc… with a little grinding and cutting It all came together as a change – side mount- extension pole for my newer Diamond BB7V. (also a collapsible HF antennas). and this is how it all (less the BB7V as I didn’t get it out yet from storage)…
Here are all the pieces I need… the 9inch hitch extension the two slid pieces of square tubing and the square (2×2) mount that allows fold over… with the angle piece bolted to that after being cut off the bottom and moved to the side , using the previous large U-bolts… nothing new purchased here..
Here I have the 9 inch hitch extension and the extra pieces off the bottom from before, and the fold down piece3 I had welded up (in 2000) .
The side view with the extension bottom in the fold over…
Here, hard to see, is the extended unit that comes about 8 inches short of the roof level of the RV…that should put all but the loading coil on the BB7V above the roof and on a mount that is sturdy enough to handle just about anything wind wise at that height…
I had played with the idea of aluminum extensions, flag poles (fiberglass) etc… and other things that could work but none of them seemed strong enough to hold that much antennas at that height if there happened to be a 30 mph wind when I wasn’t prepared… it has happened and several times my short TV dish and ? other things have been blown over, away, etc…
So I need to come up with a decent counterpoise… looking at at least one run of 70 to 95 ft. of PVC coated AGW18 stranded that is super flex to lay pretty flat on the ground, laid down and around the RV so as not to be obvious or a hazard… if that is not enough will get another set to lay the other way , around the RV… that should be easy to pick (roll) up and the antennas and support will all store in minimal space in one of the RV compartments when not in use.
Now to get the RV out and the radio in it and do some remote operations… Actually this setup might even work ok on the hitch of the jeep from some "higher" locations? will see as time permits for that as well…
WD0AJG