[TowerTalk] Mast for a short little stack

[Pete Smith N4ZR]

I have a F12 C-3E on an AB-577.  The tribander mounts on a very short 
stub mast out the top of the Yaesu rotator.  There is no thrust bearing 
or other support for the mast.

I recently bought a Cushcraft 3-element 6-meter beam and want to stack 
it about 5 feet above the tribander.  The antenna weighs about 7 pounds 
and has very low wind loading.  A friend gave me a very heavy 8-foot 
steel mast, which I thought would work, but after handling it for a 
while (it's really heavy), I think it would be overkill, and very 
awkward to install, even with two or three guys on ladders.  Cutting it 
down would help marginally.

So I'm debating a lighter, thinner-walled steel or high-strength 
aluminum mast instead.  Sitting just above the rotator's top clamp, the 
tribander would impose very little bending load on the mast in the wind, 
and the 6-meter yagi ought to be trivial in that regard too, at only 5-5 
1/2 feet above the rotator.  I'd appreciate advice - am I better off 
just suffering through the installation of the heavier mast, or if what 
I'm proposing would work, what material do you suggest?

-- 
73, Pete N4ZR
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