Mast-Mount Antennas

Mast-Mount Antennas

Mast mount antennas come in many different styles, gains, and mounting capabilities. A mast-mount antenna can be used either indoors or outdoors. Be aware, however, that hanging a mast-mount antenna from a ceiling upside down might not work as well as desired if the antenna is designed with some "down tilt" to the radiation pattern. (For more on downtilt, see Chapter 2.) Antennas used indoors typically have gains of 7 dBi or less. Gains higher than that tend to have shadows of dead spots directly under the antenna.

For short-range outdoor and some indoor applications, a 5.2-dBi antenna works very well. The antenna pictured in Figure B-6 is manufactured by Cushcraft Corporation and mounts to a mast using two band clamps (also called worm clamps).

Table B-4 lists the specifications for a typical 5.2-dBi mast-mountable omni antenna.