[TowerTalk] Source for 20' Mast

[Alan NV8A (ex. AB2OS)]

But this stuff surely isn't anything like as strong as the $20/ft. 
Chrome-Moly stuff they sell to support an HF Yagi 15ft. above the top of 
the 60ft. tower.

It may work well as a guyed antenna support, but when I hear "mast" I 
think "unsupported," as in the scenario above.

73

Alan NV8A


On 09/12/05 12:32 pm Fred Roberts tossed the following ingredients into 
the ever-growing pot of cybersoup:

> Most people are unaware that fence companies carry "top rail".  Whenever I mention 
> fence top rail, everyone envisions the backyard fence and its 1" or 1-1/4" top rail. 
>   There are, however, many larger diameters of top rail and they come in 22' (and I 
> believe 24' lengths) - the largest diameters I have are 1-7/8" and 2-7/8".  And, if 
> you need a longer length, one can be nested.  We have put up 1-1/2 lengths and 2 
> lengths for Field Day - erecting and guying 1-1/2 lengths is easy, erecting and 
> guying 2 lengths is harder.
> 
> We just completed a weekend operation with W1AW/6 and our antenna farm (3-el 20M 
> Yagi, 2-el 15M Quad, 40M Inv V, 80M Inv V, 2M j-pole, and ATV dish) on the roof of a 
> 12-story hotel here in Riverside.  We had a 3-el 20M beam on a 22' length of 1-7/8" 
> top rail - it was tied to cell phone structure which happened to be on the roof (the 
> highest tie point was at 7').  There was no mast wiggle at all and we did have windy 
> afternoons.
> 
> Oh, the top rail was about $20. several years ago, and although it is surely higher 
> today, it can't be more than $40.  It is galvanized and sturdy - I used to use this 
> to hold up an R7 vertical on my RV - 20 minutes to erect and 20 minutes to store.
> 
> This is a cheap, durable and very effective solution.  And, I presume the loss of the 
> mast you are replacing was due to a poorly conceived guy wire system.  Years ago, I 
> experienced the loss of a poorly secured guy wire which released and then the mast 
> bent.  As they say, there's a lot to be said about respecting stored energy.  :)