Jim,
 The shiny coating on my 18 m bare SpiderPole mast got 
grayish, brittle and started chipping after about 8 
months. Subsequently, the mast broke. The fiberglass at 
the break appeared to be "dusty". Since I have painted the 
mast, about 5 years ago, it has held up OK. Location is 
Florida with no shortage of sunshine.
George
On Thu, 29 Aug 2013 06:14:05 -0600
 "Jim Garland" <4cx250b@miamioh.edu> wrote:
 My 26m Spiderbeam mast is made of a shiny black 
fiberglass material. Have
users of this or the shorter Spiderbeam masts had 
experience with how well
the masts hold up to UV radiation? My QTH is at 7000 ft 
elevation and the
sun shines 330 days/year, so UV degradation is a big 
problem.  I've used
Krylon UV-resistant spray on my SteppIR yagi and it 
didn't seem to help at
all. I've heard that a water-based urethane paint works 
well, but don't know
if it would bond to the Spiderbeam mast. Also, the top 
of the mast is very
flexible and thin, so the weight of the paint might also 
be a problem. Any
suggestions?
73,
Jim W8ZR
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