a 5 foot mast section was erected on the lighthouse roof yesterday. finally, the metrix box, patch antenna, and omni are up. photos here. The mast is held to a chimney using a radio shack chimney mount. i was concerned about using an extension because the chimney is about 3 feet high and i wasnt sure if it'd be able to hold a 10 foot pole steady.

also the patch panel needs to be moved from time to time but getting up to the roof physically is very difficult to do. it takes the coordination with experienced climbers to get on a 3rd story rooftop.

so instead of a mast, how about a 4 post structure that has the inside diameter of the chimney, with the foot of each post resting on the roof. That'd give it a lot of stability. Then add a tubular ring around the entire thing. The patch antenna would ride on a roller that can move around the ring. It'd need a little motor and some kind of analog control from the metrix box. that'd be leet.