Plans for Pole Mounting a Wireless Outdoor Intercom

The pole itself is an eight foot 2 3/8" galvanized fence pole. You can even purchase a decorative end cap for the top of the pole to give the installation a more finished appearance and to keep rain out. Since eight foot is the appropriate height for the finished installation, you need some method of mounting the pole to the ground without taking away any of its height.

A 2" piece of electrical conduit happens to fit perfectly inside the fence pole so you can get a ten foot piece of that and cut it in half. Then you dig a two foot hole, pour some bags of pre-mixed fast setting concrete mix in the hole, pour water on the concrete mix, and once it hardens you slide the fence pole over the remaining three feet of conduit. You can use bolts or sheet metal screws to hold the fence pole in place on the conduit.

When mounting the callbox you want to make sure the Talk button is mounted at 48" above the ground for ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliance. This enables someone in a wheelchair to easily access it.

The illustration below shows other holes you'll need to drill in the fence pole for cables and equipment mounting. When you run cables through the drilled holes you should insert some sort of bushing to ensure the cable doesn't rub against the sharp edge of the pole. If you are mounting the Multi-Mile callbox as shown, the cables already run through its supplied cable bushing which holds the cables away from the hole edges.

You want to mount the antenna as high as possible on the pole to ensure the pole doesn't block the signal. You'll also get the best range this way. An antenna cable extension will be required to add approximately 3 feet of cable (extensions available from IntercomsOnline.com). You will have to use a "fish tape" or stiff wire to route the cables through the holes and the center of the pole. You can use #12 x 3/4" hex head sheet metal screws to hold the antenna in place.