[TowerTalk] mast recommendation

[wi8w]

Living in Grand Rapids, MI with a population of somewhere near 1 million
people you would think that finding a length of pipe for a mast would be a
easy task...not so.

I have spent the last week calling every steel dealer both in new and used
steel for a chunk of 2 inch OD 1/4 inch wall 4130 pipe about 24 feet long.
Did I find anyone who could supply it?...nope.  All said it was special
order and they could not guarantee 24 feet.  best they could do is something
random betweek 17 and 24 feet  Special order meant that not only did I have
to pay for the pipe (around $16 a foot) but I would have to pay the shipping
(about $300 for a 24 foot length).  They all said that I could buy two
pieces (and pay the shipping) and weld them together to make the 24 feet.  I
am not a big fan of nor do I know how to weld anything short of a resistor
to a circuit board.

Anyone have any suggestions for a substitute at about a 24 foot length? I am
stacking the following:

2M/440 vertical
19 element 440 beam
20 element 2 meter twist antenna (10 vertical and 10 horizontal)
5 elements on 6 meters
A4S tribander

in that order top to bottom.  Yep it is going to be tight and the first 10
feet of the mast will be inside the tower

2 inch OD seems to be the biggest I can go given the size of the thrust
bearing (TB-3) on the tower.

thanks

73

Thom WI8W




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