Wireless Joint

Anyone have information about setting up antenna towers? I am currently 2.1 miles from a tower stationed on a water tower. My antennas are on top of a small out building I have, maybe 12-15' high. But from that location I still cannot physically see the tower. I am guessing this is due to trees in the way. I am thinking if I can get the antennas another 10-20' up I might really be in business. Does anyone know what options are avaialble/reasonable for our 4g style antenna setups? Some of the HAM radio towers I have seen look like pretty huge overkill. I am guessing I would want something in the 30-40' range.

Here is shot from link at my estimated tower height and current antenna height:



And here is if I got my antenna to 30' (10m). I would like to go even a touch higher if possible to make sure I can clear nearby trees.



I have no idea about cost/logistics. I have an outbuilding I could attach something to, and concrete pads I could put bases on, but I really don't even know where to start. Any info would be helpful. Thanks

At only 2.1 miles you should be okay at roof height... The trees aren't that big of a deal with decent antennas (15dbi flat panel or better). My tower is farther with no LoS (lots of southern pine) and I can still pull in over 100mbps down / 40up with a parabolic grid.

The biggest thing is keeping your cable short and high quality... Lmr400 preferred for anything over 20ft.. 200 will work for short runs.

Viper67857 wrote: Thu Jul 30, 2020 6:35 pm At only 2.1 miles you should be okay at roof height... The trees aren't that big of a deal with decent antennas (15dbi flat panel or better). My tower is farther with no LoS (lots of southern pine) and I can still pull in over 100mbps down / 40up with a parabolic grid.

The biggest thing is keeping your cable short and high quality... Lmr400 preferred for anything over 20ft.. 200 will work for short runs.

Yeah right now I have ~15ft LMR400 to lightening arrestors to ~5ft LMR200 and have 2 17dBi band 2 Yagi's but it has not helped as much as I was hoping to increase my Band 2 signal. I really want some 15dBi flat panels as they are supposed to be better for foliage? But they are not in stock at The Wireless Haven and don't know of anywhere else to source them. I get decent Band 12 reception using a cheap wideband wilson Yagi like 9dBi, but really was hoping for Band 12 + Band 2 CA, with the primary on Band 12 for better upload speeds. Hopefully 15dBi panels are the answer when I can find them.

ciarlill wrote: Thu Jul 30, 2020 11:08 pm Yeah right now I have ~15ft LMR400 to lightening arrestors to ~5ft LMR200 and have 2 17dBi band 2 Yagi's but it has not helped as much as I was hoping to increase my Band 2 signal. I really want some 15dBi flat panels as they are supposed to be better for foliage? But they are not in stock at The Wireless Haven and don't know of anywhere else to source them. I get decent Band 12 reception using a cheap wideband wilson Yagi like 9dBi, but really was hoping for Band 12 + Band 2 CA, with the primary on Band 12 for better upload speeds. Hopefully 15dBi panels are the answer when I can find them.

If they are out of stock, you may want to take a look at this post.
https://wirelessjoint.com/viewtopic.php?p=10634#p10634

If your focus is on band 2, take a look at a parabolic grid with a mimo feedhorn... Should be over 20dbi gain at 1900mhz

Use Google Earth Pro to do an elevation line of sight from both ends with elevation graph.
This will tell you what height issues you may have (buildings/rocks/etc) and fresnel affect due to ground heat or building (tin roofs). Google / youtube for more info, but people often overlook fresnel affect and leaves in the spring. Line of sight will ensure you do not have problems.

If you play around with this link you can get the info you need free, but it takes a bit of work to figure out how to make it work. What you want to do is set your location as the tower with the selected height and then go from there. As you click on areas on the map you can create terrain paths.
https://www.heywhatsthat.com/?view=F1HIW37M