[TowerTalk] mast recommendation

[Gary Ingram]

    Why don't you use aluminum tubing as most hams do. If your aluminum
dealer does not carry it check on irrigation pipe from a farm supply dealer.

    73,
Gary Ingram
Merlin, OR
http://home.cdsnet.net/~kb7fci/
All mail scanned by Norton 2003
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "wi8w" <rtty at comcast.net>
To: <Towertalk at contesting.com>
Sent: Monday, August 04, 2003 4:49 PM
Subject: [TowerTalk] mast recommendation


> 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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