Mine starts at that 1/8" rod and goes up 1/8" in size every 4 feet,
Minus 6" of telescoping joints.
It's the last remaining vertical of a 3 element phased array. I sold the
other two after I moved
to a place that did not have the land for the array anymore.
It's been up for 20+ Years now. And has survived many BIG winds. Some
exceeding 90 Mph!
In a big storm I do admit it looks like a Larsen 5/8 wave for 2 meters
on a car rooftop going 80 down the interstate.
Like seen here,
https://imgur.com/a/cECEybW
But it has out lived most of those trees near it in that picture.
Most of those trees have been blown over and are now laying on the ground.
Joe WB9SBD
On 1/5/2026 4:37 AM, Stan Stockton wrote:
Dave,
You know that I didn’t say it wouldn’t work. The reason for his post was to try to
find a source of 1/4” x .058 wall tubing which apparently is not too easy for him to find.
We are talking about an element made of aluminum tubing. Joe’s vertical is
aluminum tubing with a solid rod tip, elevated and self supporting.
Neither DXE, Texas Towers or any other primary supplier of aluminum tubing for hams has ever offered
1/4” x .058” wall tubing to the best of my knowledge. There is certainly no problem
in making a 40m vertical that will survive 100 MPH or more without using materials that are not
readily available and without using anything smaller than 3/8” which is readily available.
If someone wanted to make a dipole using #15 wire my reaction would be the same. Why
make it using a size that’s not readily available when a more standard size is
easier and less expensive to purchase.
Stan
On Jan 4, 2026, at 10:23 AM, David Gilbert<ab7echo@gmail.com> wrote:
Why?? A suspended wire vertical would be a lot smaller than 1/8 inch and would
work just fine.
Dave AB7E
On 1/3/2026 7:04 PM, Stan Stockton wrote:
Is the need for 1/4” tubing for 40 meter verticals?
I cannot imagine making a 40m vertical or any other HF vertical or half wavelength
element that would have anything smaller than 3/8” tubing at the tip.
Stan, K5GO
Sent from my iPhone
On Jan 3, 2026, at 8:02 PM, Joe<nss@mwt.net> wrote:
I wasn't worried about stiffness.
It is the telescoping to the 1/8" rod. the 0.049, it was pretty tough to get a
good grip to lock the rod in place too much slop.
Joe WB9SBD
On 1/2/2026 11:54 PM, K9MA wrote:
On 1/2/2026 7:30 PM, Zack Widup wrote:
That's where I have been buying aluminum tubing. They don't have 0.058"
wall thickness in 1/4" diameter tubing, but the closest they have for that
diameter is 0.049", which I suspect will work.
You don't get a whole lot of extra stiffness by going from a .049 to .058 inch
wall thickness in tubing this small.
73,
Scott K9MA
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