Beverage Antenna Support Structure

One of the first tasks in my Beverage antenna project was to decide upon a method of supporting the wires. I planned on a bidirectional antenna, so a dual wire hanger is needed. Some key concerns are the desired height and the environment where the antennas will be installed. In my case, I want the wires to be high enough to allow our deer population to move around without threat of damage to them or to my antennas. So the height will be 7-8 feet above ground level. I want to be able to easily reach the wires for installing and later for maintenance. Much of my first Beverage antenna will be installed in the woods, so I have to expect some tree limbs (or whole trees) will be falling on the wires, with potential to damage my antennas.

Beverage Antenna Support Poles

I am going to use the popular and inexpensive T-Post as the support for each of my Beverage antenna wire hangers. Each hanger will have two wires to support, with approximately 6″ between the wires. The T-Post will be driven into the ground, about 1-2 feet deep. I plan to use 5′ T-Posts, so I should have a good sturdy 3-4 foot T-post section above the ground for each hanger.

To get to the desired height, I have to mount a pipe or pole to each T-Post. I really wanted to use PVC pipe, as that seemed like the easiest way to make a support. Just slide an 8-foot piece of PVC over the T-Post and you are all set. Unfortunately, my T-posts would require two-inch diameter PVC which costs over $ 20 for a 10-foot section. With supports at least every 50 feet, I would need a minimum of 10 supports for a 500-foot antenna. That is over $ 200 just for the PVC, and I would probably need more than 10 supports. That is out of the budget.

For supports, I now plan to use wooden pressure-treated 2X2 poles, attached to the T-Posts with U-bolts or hose clamps. Eight-foot lengths of Kiln-dried 2X2 pressure-treated wood cost about $ 5.25. That is affordable for this project.

Beverage Wire Hangers

I designed a 2-wire Beverage antenna hanger that will fit on the end of a wooden 2X2 post (which is approx 1.5″ X 1.5″ of course). In the event that I later use round pipe, I can easily design an adapter for this hanger or modify the hanger design to change from a square bottom to a round one. The hanger is designed for 3D printing. The printed hangers will be made from PETG material which is easy to print, has no toxic fumes, and is said to survive well in all weather and UV exposure. I have used PETG to print some wire antenna brackets that have been out in the weather for over a year with no noticeable degradation. I have already printed about 15 of these hangers and they look good. I designed mine for use with # 14 AWG house wire.

The picture below shows the Beverage wire hanger. It is a 2-piece design that allows me to remove, modify, or replace the portion that actually holds the wire. You may notice that my wires are inserted from the bottom, and you might wonder why. There are several holes for using screws to mount the hangers but they will very likely not be needed. Since most of my supports will be in the woods, I am hoping that the inevitable falling trees or limbs can push the wire out of the hangers without breaking it. We will see about that.

I will probably make a version of the hanger that is modified for wire insertion from above. That will be used where I am not concerned about anything falling onto the wires. In either case, once the wire is installed in all supports, and put under some tension, I do not expect much physical pressure on the supports.