Topband: standoff for inv L

[Frank VO1HP]

At my remote site I have an inverted L that is supported by a 40ft square
aluminium lattice “frangible"  tower. Yes I have it guyed.   There is a
14ft fibreglass pole fixed to the top of the tower.  There is short piece
of aluminium tubing in the top of the pole and the bend in the L wire is
essentially at 56ft.  The pole is from a wind  surf board that was
destroyed in a very big wave. which took four feet of the pole as well.
 The wind surf pole is nicely tapered and in one piece. The bottom is about
2 inch diameter tapering to  1 inch at the top.    I am not the surfer -  I
have a friend who is into this kind of thing.!

It is very stiff and supports  the L wire very nicely.  The wire I use is a
very small but very strong flex weave type of wire that came from a
decommissioned TCI portable Log Periodic. There is significant "pull" from
the horizontal wire and I have a back stay from the top of the pole to
an outrigger arm at the 30ft level. The back stay keeps the pole nicely
straight and I adjust the tension at the far end to minimize the
deflection.

I don’t know if all Wind Surf poles are like this one  but its worth
checking out.  I have been using it on top of my 40ft tower for 5-6 years
and it has survived hellish storms with 120kmph winds and ice and snow etc.


73
Frank VO1HP