I bought a 10' section of 1/2" copper pipe with all the fittings. I got everything soldered together and its sitting in the living room waiting to be mounted. Before I go any further I have a few more questions.

1.) I have purchased the PL-259 UHF connector, which will be soldered to copper pipe clamps. What is the best connecting material to go from the PL-259 to the short part of the J pole? Can I just strip a piece of 18 guage copper speaker wire, or do I need something more solid?

2.) There is an old satellite dish on my roof, leftover from the previous owners. Is it ok to mount the J Pole to this mast if I take the dish off? I was thinking that I would mount the J Pole to a 3" wooden dowel and then mount the dowel to the mast for a little extra added height.

3.) The satellite dish has a ground wire that is ran from it, to a metal strap that is connected to the metal utility pole that my electric meter is on. Can I keep that ground in place? Since the mast is screwed into the roof, I'm very paranoid about lightning hitting it. (I assume I'll know more about this once I get into reading the antenna book, but for now y'all are what I have to go on.)


Thanks in advance for any suggestions.