[TowerTalk] re Rohn 50 foot mast

[Rob Atkinson, K5UJ]

dave,

whatever these masts do, they are intended to be guyed at each level.  They 
are built to pretty much hold a tv antenna and maybe a very small rotator 
and that's about it.   That doesn't mean they can't be used for ham purposes 
such as holding up a wire, but my gut feeling is that you plan to ask too 
much of yours, especially if you get 80 mph wind.  If you put much up there 
at the top you absolutely have to guy it at the top.  The wall thickness 
isn't that much and they only sink into the section below a few inches.   
also the top section pipe is only a little over an inch diameter.  For what 
you want to put up there, i think you need a larger diameter and wall 
thickness.

I have a couple of 50 footers I picked up last year.  My original plan was 
to modify them so each section would sink into the one below it a few feet 
in the hopes of giving me a 35 or 40' mast that could hold up a loop wire 
and not need much guying.  That way I could get it close to my property 
line.  I came to my senses earlier this year, when I realized the bottom 
section with all that weight above it, and its thin wall, would buckle 
easily.   It's always a mistake to use a product in other then the way it 
was designed to be installed.   I started buying rohn 25 sections and I 
suggest you think about going the lattice tower route also.  It will be much 
more robust and no worries in a windstorm.   Rohn used to make one that went 
up 70 feet!  21 guy cables!  To me that's insanity.

73,

rob / k5uj

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