In a message dated 12/8/2006 5:09:16 PM Eastern Standard Time,
dick-bingham@hughes.net writes:
The "Hot-Stick" I use here on my PUD activities extends from a collapsed
length of ~5-feet to about 40-feet. I have no idea how much this assembly
costs but recommend you opt for the variety that is triangular in
cross-section as opposed to the circular variety. The triangular version
extends and locks easily while the circular variety you have to hunt for the
detent position! Not fun in the dark...
I'm not sure what you mean by the "detent" on the round fibrepoles - the MFJ
and the Spider simply employ roughed ends where the inner, smaller tube
connects with it's "parent" larger section. The holding strength is very
tight.
The big issue I have found with these telescoping masts is that they cannot
hold much weight up at the top ends and even # 14 wire will pull down the top
significantly if you are trying to use it in an Inverted L pattern and will
stress the pole eventually fracturing it. These are fine for temporary
installations but I doubt they'd last much longer than year, or less, unless
efforts are made for strain relief.
You could use a section or two down - Ive found decent strength to avoid a
pulling down effect can be had about 7 - 9 ft down from the top. But again,
this is fibre we're dealing with and not rigid aluminum so you have to think
about practical life span. In very cold weather you'll find these things can
and
do fracture very quickly and are not repairable. But for a straight-up
vertical support - a base loaded 60 ft monopole (maybe someone could manage to
avoid the top section drooping with a clever arrange of T configuration top
loading wires acting as guys) these are fine even for longer term use.
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