[TowerTalk] Pinning mast?

[john at kk9a.com]

You didn't say what kind of mast clamp you are using.  While pinning a mast 
is good thing in many cases, I think you need to correct the fit of the mast 
clamp before going any further.  My prop pitch has a 3" K7NV mast clamp and 
my mast is 2 7/8 diameter so I purchased as 3" diameter stainless steel tube 
with a 1/16 wall and made a shim out of it.  The clamp then tightened to the 
mast securely.   Why won't yours shim properly?

John KK9A



To: towertalk at contesting.com
Subject: [TowerTalk] Pinning mast?
From: K7LXC at aol.com
Date: Mon, 7 Nov 2011 14:50:44 -0500 (EST)
List-post: <towertalk at contesting.com">mailto:towertalk at contesting.com>

Howdy --

    I've got a sloppy fit between a mast clamp and a  mast - both steel. It
won't shim properly so I think my only option is to pin  the mast. I've
done it a bunch of times and mostly they hold butr  sometimes they don't so 
I'm
proposing to use 2 in one direction and  another two 90 degrees from the
first two with good-sized high strength  bolts. Other than the challenge of
doing it at altitude, is there anything else  I should be considering? Or is
there another way to do it?

    This is a prop pitch with big antennas on it.

Cheers,
Steve    K7LXC