I'm located in SW Cannon county, on a hilltop at about 1200'.

Tower is 50'. I bought it used, from Keith K4MHK in 2003. Thanks Keith!

I dug and poured a concrete base using about 2400 lbs of hand-mixed concrete.  Then cleaned, painted, and assembled the lower three pieces and stood them up, and bolted them to the house.  That was a little difficult. (Standing it up. You know that weird feeling in the pit of your stomach when it feels like it could all go wrong with one gust of wind!).  I used some 3/4" all-thread and 3/16" angle iron to fasten it to the house. There is also a grounding rod near the base.  A few weeks later, Chuck K4CM came by and put the last two pieces on top. Thanks Chuck!

The three current antennas are:

1. a homemade "copper cactus" that is designed for 6m, 2m, and 440. It seems to work very well.
2. another homemade "copper cactus" for 2m and 440.
3. an experimental yagi for cell phones. I don't have cell phone coverage here worth a flip.

Some day I'll try to move the cactus antennas closer to the top, if I feel lucky.

My xyl agreed to me erecting the monument as long as it was "tasteful".  Of course, there is no "home owners association" out here to worry about, unless I start one and require an antenna in every yard!.

I think it's down-right purdy!!! Should be featured in Better Homes and Gardens! I'll be sure to list it as an amenity if I ever sell this place.


My radios are a Yaesu 8900 quad band dual receive, Yeasu FT 2600 2m in the car, and an Icom T-7h HT for the car or house.

I got my Tech ticket in 2000.  Eventually, I hope to get the code endorsement so I can make some use of the 8900 rigs' 10m band, and maybe pick up a qrp rig.  That will have to wait until I can get some major work projects behind me.

I act as a maintenance manager at a tier 1 supplier to "the" local auto manufacturer, although I'm moving more into project management and designing database applications.

I mostly hang out on the 145.23 or 147.36 repeater system "in the shadows", but often scan the band and eaves-drop on other repeaters.