The antenna system at K2PG. The three white spacers at the top of the tower (below the beam antennas) support the commoning ring and drop wires of the AM folded unipole. This unipole skirt is about 42 feet tall and works best on 75 and 80 meters. It is a bit inefficient for 160, but it does get out. The four vertical dipoles are for 2 meter FM. The beam antennas include a 3-element tribander, a 6-element Yagi for 6 meters, and a 13-element Yagi for 2 meter AM and SSB. To prevent unwanted resonances and re-radiation, the guy wires are broken up with egg insulators. All feedlines are bonded to the base of the tower, which is at DC and RF ground. Since a folded unipole tower must be grounded, no isocouplers are necessary, as there is no base insulator. The copper in the original ground system was stolen, a casualty of unprecedented copper prices and some worthless trash that was probably looking for drug money. It was replaced on September 30, 2007 with galvanized electric fence wire, which also provides a good ground, but has practically no resale value. Bonding galvanized wire and hardware to the galvanized tower eliminates the rapid corrosion caused by bonding dissimilar metals.
The tower base, showing the spacers for the feedpoint of the folded unipole. Inspired by the 1975 John Waters movie, the pink lawn flamingos show my burning desire for the tacky and tasteless! Two of them once adorned my front lawn, but they were stolen by neighborhood kids! The copper strap (visible to the right of me) was stolen in September, 2007 and has been replaced by cheaper metal that has no resale value.
Assorted "junque" near the tower base. The large white unit, a 5 kW antenna tuning unit salvaged from a broadcast station, was moved to the Pennsylvania site. It was reworked and is now matching a dedicated 160 meter folded unipole.