You guys have help me before and i need it again.

[KF6ABU]

you will need to guy that mast at each telescoping section

[KB9BVN]

The world of antennas is massive and you can tell by the thousands upon thousands of postings about antennas on the net. Some of the information out is exactly that, it's out there (and should keep going). The learning process is a gradual thing, an antenna here an antenna there and so on. There's an antenna for just about any purpose you can think of and it gets overwhelming at times. Everybody will tell you their antenna is the one and only one to use. That may not be adequate for what you want to do.
Okay, now you need to start a collection of books on antennas. The ARRL Antenna Book is good but I'm going to give you a download site for an excellent antenna book; www.eagle3.net/n4ywn/docs/PracticalAntennaHandbook-vol4.pdf. It's 625 pages of good information. Save it to your computer and read it as time allows. You can also use it to look up some of the information you hear on the air.
Now for an excellent book on the why's and how come's. This was written for our troops in the USMC and although it tend to deal in tactical terms (military, go figure) but it's an easy read. It's here at; http://www.marines.mil/news/publicat...20Handbook.pdf.
It's 198 pages of valuable information paid for by your tax dollars. Enjoy it and read it when you can.
BTW the Practical Antenna Handbook has antennas you can make right now.
Hope this helps
73
Gary

From Page 5 of the Practical Antenna Handbook

This is a copyrighted work and The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (McGraw-Hill) and its licensors reserve
all rights in and to the work. Use of this work is subject to these terms. Except as permitted under the
Copyright Act of 1976 and the right to store and retrieve one copy of the work, you may not decompile,
disassemble, reverse engineer, reproduce, modify, create derivative works based upon, transmit, distribute,
disseminate, sell, publish or sublicense the work or any part of it without McGraw-Hills prior consent.You
may use the work for your own noncommercial and personal use; any other use of the work is strictly
prohibited. Your right to use the work may be terminated if you fail to comply with these terms.

[W4HAY]

Whichever wire antenna you decide upon, stop by your local electrical supply house and pick up a pair of split-bolt connectors.



Get the smallest size they have. They'll make pruning so much easier as you won't be twisting and untwisting the wire until you get the right length. Then, twist and solder the wire and save the connectors for the next time. And if you're a typical ham, there will be a lot of next times.

[AF6LJ]

Whichever wire antenna you decide upon, stop by your local electrical supply house and pick up a pair of split-bolt connectors.



Get the smallest size they have. They'll make pruning so much easier as you won't be twisting and untwisting the wire until you get the right length. Then, twist and solder the wire and save the connectors for the next time. And if you're a typical ham, there will be a lot of next times.

That is about the single best peace of advice I have heard in a long time...
That's what I did when I put up the 20M inverted Vee.

Like others have suggested here, I have to go with making your own antenna, you will learn more and you will get the same results if you bought one ready to hang.
There are so many variables that determine an antenna's performance and nearly all of them have to do with the location of the antenna.

So if you can get it up at least thirty five feet (forty or fifty feet or so is even better)...
You will be fine. The math is simple and the skills required are basic, a ladderline or twinlead feed dipole is perhaps the least expensive and best overall performer for an all band antenna.

If you want to get one pre-assembled that's fine also however it's not going to work any better than one you put together yourself.

[KO6WB]

Yup BVN, don't think anybody here is going into the antenna manufacturing business nor do I think anybody is about to assemble an army together using the USMC publications. These are for the personal use of those that have them and need the knowledge they provide. They are excellent and if you're so inclinded you can obtain updated volumes as well.
This information has been posted on the web and is plainly visible to those that have the copyright. If it was not allowed then the folks at McGraw-Hill would have had the web site dismantled just like the folks that took over the Heathkit manuals did. If you look just about everything put on the web has copyright notices that limit what you or anybody else can and should do with that information.
The tools presented on the web are just as likely to have copyright notifications that are exactly the same as the ones present in a public library and yet you are allowed to copy these works to your hearts desire. Just don't use that information directly to make you a multi-millionaire as if that was going to be a problem.
Enjoy the knowledge the web offers. Use the web to purchase the things you never thought possible. It's there to be used. Knowledge is never a good thing to waste.
73
Gary