[TowerTalk] Masting source

[jimlux]

On 12/28/19 11:12 AM, k7lxc--- via TowerTalk wrote:
>>    Could someone point me to a source for antenna mast? It needs to be strongenough for my A4S and 10-element 2m beam. I was thinking 10' in height, isthat too much? I've not had an actual bell rotor atop a tower before.Everything prior has been TV rotors on masts.
>      Relatively speaking, this is a pretty small load - even at high wind speeds - so IMO just about anything will work; e.g. water pipe, Schedule 40 or 80 conduit. Available from lots of different sources.
> 
>      These are pipes and not tubing so they have a slightly smaller OD - 1.9 inches - so you might have to shim it slightly in a Hy-Gain rotator but shouldn't be a problem with other ones.
> 
>      Cheap and easy works for me.
> 


And don't let folks freak out about "it's not super high strength steel 
with 85kips yield" - consider what will happen if the pipe does bend. 
Is it catastrophic? or do you climb up on the roof, after a trip to the 
store to buy another 10 foot length of water pipe or fence post, and 
swap it out, thinking, "yep, next time I'll get schedule 80 instead of 
schedule 40", or "maybe thinwall EMT conduit wasn't strong enough"

People put up large TV antennas on 50 feet of remarkably thin wall 
tubing with truly deficient guying approaches and it survives, most of 
the time. And sometimes, they get up in the morning after a storm, and 
find their antenna in the yard.
As long as it didn't hit the power line or something critical on the way 
down, you clean it up, move on, and fix it.

I don't know that I'd use plastic ABS foam sewer pipe for 10 feet (but I 
have done similar things, and it worked, for a while - but plastic pipe 
is pretty flexible)