[TowerTalk] Aluminum Masts

[Dave]

K7LXC@aol.com wrote:

>
>
> > Will it be real noodley and spooky to climb on?
>
>      YES! I wouldn't climb it myself.
>

Gee Steve, I'll take that very seriously coming from someone who'll climb 40' of
unguyed 25G, HI!

>
> >  Is there something better for the same $.
>
>      You've got two mast choices - aluminum or steel. Aluminum resides in the
> lower end of the yield strength spectrum - about 35kpsi. Steel pipe is that
> or less. Alloy steel tubing is that strength and up. The sometimes
> unacceptable stuff is cheap - the real stuff isn't; you get what you pay for.
>
>      I guess the real question is: Is another 9 feet of elevation going to be
> worth the expense, effort and extra stress on the tower system? You might see
> some small changes in antenna performance but it's only going to make a
> *small* improvement. You have to almost double the height to really see the
> benefit. Have you modeled this?
>

I just now modeled it using TA. I  live on flat ground so it's pretty easy to
model. It looks like going from 42' to 52' would yield about another 1-1.5 dB of
gain on 20m below about 17 degrees, same on 15m below about 12 degrees, and same
for 10m below about 9 degrees in elevation. As hard as it is to get 1-1.5dB of
gain in the antenna world, I think it might be worth it. The 20' aluminum mast
would cost me about $120. I'll think hard about aluminum vs steel though.

73,
Dave
K0QE

>
> Cheers,   Steve   K7LXC
>
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