At 05:49 AM 10/25/2005, John E. Cleeve wrote:
> The
>rubber doughnut I used in my flexible coupler, normally forms part of a
>Triumph sports car drive train, coupling the prop shaft to the differential.
>The outer diameter of the doughnut is about 6 inches, and its cross section,
>about 1.5 inches. The doughnut has six metal sleeved holes through the
>rubber, intended for three fixing bolts to each flange of the interconnected
>prop shaft.
Another approach for shock damping that can be used is to couple the two
shafts with a length of thickwall rubber hose (think of radiator
hose). You use hose clamps to hold the hose on. The length of hose
between the clamps establishes the "springyness". This would probably only
work if the antenna mast were supported by something else (i.e. a couple of
bearings to take the bending and gravity loads).
The flexible drive shaft coupler that John describes is also available in a
variety of other sizes and forms. A good mechanical equipment catalog will
have a bunch of them (I haven't checked McMasterCarr, but that might be a
place to start, or maybe WWGrainger). The loads in a antenna installation
are a LOT lower than that in an automobile, although car parts have the
advantage of being inexpensive (if not almost free at a junkyard).
_______________________________________________
See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless Weather
Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any questions
and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
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