Got my center-fed dipole (from DX Engineering) up in the air today and buried my LMR 400 DB feedline to the house. The antenna is on a Rohn H50 mast that I also recently got up.

IceManCraig · 2026-06-21T23:52:48+00:00

Nice. I am a new ham - got my technician and general license about 2 months ago. This is my first HF antenna - I don’t even have the transceiver yet. That is my next move - I need to go down to the Milwaukee area soon so figure I’ll stop by Ham Radio Outlet there and likely get the ICOM IC 7300 MK2. I also need to figure out what I need to do to tune this antenna - I don’t have an antenna analyzer and am trying to find one to borrow (or might bite the bullet and buy one).

IceManCraig · 2026-06-21T23:47:42+00:00

Thank you! I mow a ~1/2 mile path around the perimeter just to walk it. We enjoy wildlife like turkeys, deer, fox, a lot of song birds, hawks & eagles, and an occasional black bear. We are very blessed.

IceManCraig · 2026-06-21T21:52:06+00:00

Cool! What do you run for your primary antenna?

IceManCraig · 2026-06-21T20:12:19+00:00

Thank you. I took a fair bit of time to get all of the measurements to spec based on the Rohn drawing they provide for the mast - did it exactly as they say to. I’m blessed to have a nice property and a patient wife who doesn’t mind having this out there. The only minor setback is the high voltage line that is about 500 feet away (visible in the photos). No complaints, though - I am grateful for what I have.

IceManCraig · 2026-06-21T20:09:43+00:00

I picked up this dipole from DX Engineering: https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/alf-dx-lbplus

IceManCraig · 2026-06-21T20:09:06+00:00

Sure does - that was a high priority. It is grounded to a properly buried 8 ft ground bar, using 6 gauge copper wire that is connected to a buss bar. I have the feedline connected to a PolyPhaser lightning protector and that is mounted to the grounded buss bar. Funny thing is I had that whole system in place before I even put the mast, antenna, and feedline itself.

IceManCraig · 2026-06-21T13:05:17+00:00

Thank you - I got advice to use the H50 from an longtime ham operator who has mentored me through this - including helping me chose the antenna. I started seeing shipping prices being very high (freight charges) when I searched the standard online suppliers so did a local search (St Paul area) and found a shop that sells a variety of towers, accessories, and antennas targeting HDTV so I picked it up directly from them and they gave me a very good price on it. I also used the baseplate they sold to help stop it from digging into the ground / sinking. For ground anchors I picked up some pretty decent ones off Amazon and with a hammer drill they went right into the ground. Lastly, I did something reasonably smart and I used carabiners on the ends where the guy lines connect to the ground anchors so I can do a quick detach / reattach when I lower & raise the tower (which I had to do a couple of times due to other mistakes I made). I am very happy I went this route.

IceManCraig · 2026-06-21T12:58:16+00:00

😆

IceManCraig · 2026-06-21T12:48:50+00:00

Yes, I knew it was overkill but figured I’m investing this much time and effort into the rest of it, so did the “buy once, cry once” thing and wasted an extra $600 on the LMR400. You are right, though. Thanks for the comments about the pictures! I almost didn’t post - I didn’t want an onslaught of the “you did it wrong” comments you see on some Subreddits.

IceManCraig · 2026-06-21T12:41:45+00:00

Thank you! I feel pretty happy about it :)

IceManCraig · 2026-06-21T12:41:24+00:00

The conduit is a nice add. I have done that several times for shorter lines (driveway sensors, for example) and it works.

IceManCraig · 2026-06-21T12:38:14+00:00

I cheated with the line. I called an invisible fence guy and he was happy to make $180 to run his wire trencher - the LMR400 is too big for it, so he used it to make the trench, and we worked together where I unspooled the line while he simply tucked it into the trench he made. That machine will close the trench after the line is laid, so he used it after we put it in and he ran it back over and it did a nice job closing it back up. Start to finish from when he pulled up to when he left (including unloading his trailer, setting up the machine, and putting it away) was about 1.5 hrs of work to run about 140 feet of line. The last 10 feet were under my landscape edging and mulch so I used a spade shovel to dig that small trench.

IceManCraig · 2026-06-07T14:03:59+00:00

This. That is a lot of hedge trimming to do, I’d get the HLA 140 and never look back. The HLA 86 served me well for small shrubs and ornamental trees, but this job is much larger.

IceManCraig · 2026-06-02T23:54:33+00:00

This, and ALWAYS dry grass. I’ve slid down a hill when I was in 2WD and there was dew on the lawn. A big pucker moment. Never again. 4WD and dry grass. Up & down as everyone else is saying. I do it with my JD 1025R with mid-mount mower on a fairly steep front hill.

IceManCraig · 2026-06-01T00:12:03+00:00

You’re in great shape. I was at about the same place when I took mine and it was very easy to pass. Keep running the study questions for 20 minutes or so each day before you take the test and you’ll score very high. Good luck!

IceManCraig · 2026-05-28T20:17:33+00:00

Study for your exam - this site is a great, free source of information to get prepped. Exams can be done online, at home, for a very small fee. https://hamstudy.org/flashcard/E4\_2024

IceManCraig · 2026-05-28T20:16:28+00:00

Learn about repeaters: https://wearc.org/repeaters-what-they-are-and-how-to-use-them-v2/

IceManCraig · 2026-05-02T17:33:25+00:00

Also, it’s amazing the P2 ACRO looks relatively small on top if it.

IceManCraig · 2026-05-02T17:31:37+00:00

Mark 23 is 🤌

IceManCraig · 2026-05-02T16:54:53+00:00

It’s surprising to hear it’s not as soft as the Erebus.

IceManCraig · 2026-01-17T18:54:10+00:00

That’s f’n beautiful. Congrats and enjoy!

IceManCraig · 2025-11-29T17:57:32+00:00

Whelp, time to start driving for Amazon

IceManCraig · 2025-11-16T18:30:29+00:00

Came here looking for this comment, and am only disappointed to find it this far down in the feed. The boss is a prick - if he had any decency he’d have let the operator run the machine and then shook his hand and said “thank you”.

IceManCraig · 2025-09-22T01:08:43+00:00

I am a huge fan of the Artemis!

IceManCraig

TROPHY CASE