(Two important points I want to make even though my mast has remained standing for over a year in high winds of 30mph+ with out guy wires. It does move a significant amount an inch or so, in high winds of over 30mph. A 2 inch 10 foot metal pipe is stiffer, than this unistrut. Adding guy wires will remedy this problem. Anyways, vinyl wrapped metal wire , wood spikes and some eye hooks works for guy wires 28 dollars or so total cost.. This may upset the sad hams out there. )
This is my 36 dollar dyi ham radio mast. fyi I put some cement below and around. The bottom cinder to help bind better. Now that I think of it. It would probably come out cheaper than 46 dollars. The metal beam. Was 23 dollars, the cinder block were around 8 dollars. And the quikrete cement was about 5 dollars. So about 36 dollars. For the mast and base. The metal beam can be placed in the cinder block first. Or if preferred, it can be pushed through freshly poured cement. Very easy and simple to build. The beam has channels on both sides. Which coax can be tucked away in. The Antenna is a DBJ 1 by Ed Fong. Available on ebay for about $40. Al though, its cheap it works very well on 2m and 70cm. I may eventually add a second ten foot mast. On top of this one perhaps add an extra 7 feet of height. I may weld it on. That will ultimately give me about 17 feet of height. I believe adding much above 15 feet. Would need a larger base. Or guy wires. Update: I recently spray painted the base of the mast black and it gives it a lot cleaner look than the concrete. And potentially gives it a little protection. From the elements. 73!