RV Ladder Portable Antenna Mount

My XYL and I love to spend some time in the summer with our Motor home at campgrounds. In the past I would use bungee cords to mount a temporary mast to mount a hamstick antenna on. This was quite a nuisance and I thought there must be a better way. This is what I did.

I have a 6M dipole at the top and 3 Hamsticks mounted at the top of the ladder. I made some brackets so I can just swing the mast into place with no ladder climbing. The brackets are aluminum opposing S brackets that hold the mast firmly in place. The mast itself is made of 3 nesting 6 foot pieces of aluminum tubing with slits and hose clamps.

Here are few photos of how I made the brackets

**Opposing S brackets bolted to 1″ aluminum angle**

**Testing the mast fit. Nice and sung!**

**S brackets and angle attached to ladder with hose clamp**

**Bottom single S drilled for pinch bolts. Once mast is clipped in the bottom it holds tension in the top S’s**

**6m Dipole details for when the band is open**

**3 Hamsticks mounted to a Hustler tri mount and a clamp I picked up at the NearFest Fleamarket once upon a time. I pick 3 from the 40, 30, 20 , 17 or 15 hamsticks on hand**

Telescoping Mast ( 3 x 6′) in place. I lay the mast across the lower top S at an angle and then rotate it vertical and then let it “spring” back into the very bottom S.

I have been working mostly FT-8 with this set up and have great luck with such a simple setup. The ground plane for the hamsticks is the mast itself and the ladder via the friction fit into the S clamps. I have worked plenty of EU DX and when the bands are good I can work worldwide DX such as ZL, VK, JA etc

VE9GJ

RV Ladder Portable Antenna Mount

Leave a Reply Cancel reply