10 ft. mast

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sony

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Is it better to just get a 10 ft. mast in one piece or if not sure of antenna install 2- 5 ft. masts? I would think that the one piece of 10 ft. mast would be stronger.
 

Skypilot007

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I'd go with the one 10ft piece. I currently use 17ft pieces of galvanized fence pole for masts. They work great and it puts the antennna up there where it belongs.
 

sony

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Skypilot007 said:
I'd go with the one 10ft piece. I currently use 17ft pieces of galvanized fence pole for masts. They work great and it puts the antennna up there where it belongs.
I figured one piece would be better I just don't know how high I want to put antenna up. This time I don't or prefer not to use guy wires.
 

chgomonitor

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Re: 17 foot poles

Skypilot007 said:
I'd go with the one 10ft piece. I currently use 17ft pieces of galvanized fence pole for masts. They work great and it puts the antennna up there where it belongs.

That is actually a great idea. Two questions:

1. Can you suggest any sources for these lengths of pole (17ft fencing poles)

2. Is there any way / a good way of joining them together for vertical mounting?

Thanks! - Ted
 

kf4lne

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Lowes/Home Depot and they are tapered on the ends just like mast pole.They are the ones used for a top rail on chain link fences. You can find them in 10 ft and ~20 ft lengths and they are typically 1.5-1.75 inch diameter.
 

red8

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I don't know if they still have them in stock but you might try Radio Shack. That's where I got my pieces of mast for my antenna and if you are good with welding you can weld the pieces together. I believe
you can with an arc welder.
 

sony

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red8 said:
I don't know if they still have them in stock but you might try Radio Shack. That's where I got my pieces of mast for my antenna and if you are good with welding you can weld the pieces together. I believe
you can with an arc welder.

Yes Radio Shack is the best source plus you can return what you don't use.
 

ReceiverBeaver

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I recommend aluminum electrical conduit. find at many industrial-electrical supply houses. They'll sell to anybody. Comes in all sizes. Standard antenna mast is 1 & 1/4" Comes threaded on both ends and with one coupling. 10 foot lengths.

Strong, lightweight and corrosion free
 

jhooten

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Ask for top rail in the fence section. The have a section on one end compressed to fit in the end of the other section like the rat-shack mast sections, the walls are a littler thicker, the outisde diameter is close to the same, they are galvanized instead of painted, are almost twice as long, and cost about 3/4 of the rat-shack antenna mast sections.
 

sony

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ReceiverBeaver said:
I recommend aluminum electrical conduit. find at many industrial-electrical supply houses. They'll sell to anybody. Comes in all sizes. Standard antenna mast is 1 & 1/4" Comes threaded on both ends and with one coupling. 10 foot lengths.

Strong, lightweight and corrosion free
This type of store would be difficult to locate. I don't see what the advantages are other than the aluminum mast will last even longer than 10 years (overkill?) as these from RS have gone at least 10 years and still maybe used again.
 

sony

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jhooten said:
Ask for top rail in the fence section. The have a section on one end compressed to fit in the end of the other section like the rat-shack mast sections, the walls are a littler thicker, the outisde diameter is close to the same, they are galvanized instead of painted, are almost twice as long, and cost about 3/4 of the rat-shack antenna mast sections.
Top rail of fence????for a mast????Is this from Home Depot or Lowe's?
 

Skypilot007

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chgomonitor said:
That is actually a great idea. Two questions:

1. Can you suggest any sources for these lengths of pole (17ft fencing poles)

2. Is there any way / a good way of joining them together for vertical mounting?

Thanks! - Ted


1. Sorry, I picked them out of the trash at a construction site.

2. They don't have tappered ends so attaching them together would be difficult. Plus that would be one long piece of mast that would most deffinetly need guys.

I have a 24ft I-MAX 2000 10 meter verticle antenna on top of one of the 17ft poles. And that is on top of my house which is 35ft high. Its up there pretty good.
 

firescannerbob

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sony said:
This type of store would be difficult to locate. I don't see what the advantages are other than the aluminum mast will last even longer than 10 years (overkill?) as these from RS have gone at least 10 years and still maybe used again.

Only if you live where there isn't electricity. If you've got electricians in where you live, you've got one of these stores...Check your phone book.
 

kf4lne

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Re: Lowes and Home Depot and many other home improvement centers will have the chain link fence top rail. it comes in lengths about 20 feet, is tapered on one end to allow sliding together like regular antenna mast, is galvanized and takes much longer to rust and is about 1/3 to 1/4 the cost of a 10 ft "antenna mast" for twice the length. Also Lowes and Home Depot will have the electrical conduit and only places like Afganistan and Antartica will not have electrical supply places. Electricians typically don't shop at Lowes and Home Depot if they don't have to.
 

sony

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kf4lne said:
Re: Lowes and Home Depot and many other home improvement centers will have the chain link fence top rail. it comes in lengths about 20 feet, is tapered on one end to allow sliding together like regular antenna mast, is galvanized and takes much longer to rust and is about 1/3 to 1/4 the cost of a 10 ft "antenna mast" for twice the length. Also Lowes and Home Depot will have the electrical conduit and only places like Afganistan and Antartica will not have electrical supply places. Electricians typically don't shop at Lowes and Home Depot if they don't have to.
What's the purpose of grounding the antenna as it will not be the highest item in the area?
 

sony

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jhooten said:
So the insurance company will pay the claim if you do get hit.

IOW, it is reguired the NEC.
??????
 
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jhooten

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IOW = in other words
NEC= National electrical code

If your installation is not code compliant your insurance company can use that as an excuse to not pay you damage claim if you were to suffer lightning damage.
 
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