[amsat-bb] Mast - non-conductive

[Dale Kubichek]

This method works well and many of us making VHF Quads/Quagis have been doing this since the 80's. But why go to the expense of Fiberglass tubes - we use thick wall UV-PVC with a wooden down inside to stiffen giving it much strength. 

I use PVC w/wood for the Quad boom and vehicle Mast for "T" hunting. Trust me, high vehicle speeds and low tree limb grabbers we find during a southern California T-Hunt is very stressful to any vehicle antenna/mast above the hole in our vehicle roof. Some of us use Gorilla-Glue as a filler between the dowel and PVC (as Gorilla-glue expands making a solid fit). 

I use 1.25" PVC sched-80 w/wood for my SAT antenna cross-member boom - keeping it non-conduction/metal free to insure no skewing of the directional lobes within the field pattern.   
 Best regards,   
Dale Kubichek, MS-EET, N6JSX
Sidney, OH 45365  EN70vh

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HAM-SATs
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RDF-USA
Message: 3
Date: Fri, 25 Mar 2016 06:04:55 -0500
From: Alan <wa4sca at gmail.com>
To: "'AMSAT -BB'" <amsat-bb at amsat.org>
Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Fiberglass Poles for Antenna Mounting?
Message-ID: <000301d18686$29ef18d0$7dcd4a70$@GMAIL.COM>

Another trick for strengthening fiberglass tubing is to get wood round stock at Lowes or Home Depot that 
will just fit inside the tubing.  Years ago I found something which was a perfect friction fit, though 
obviously it depends on the tubing.  Cut the wood about 2" shorter than the tubing, and center it 
leaving a 1" space at each end.  I stood the tubing on end, and filled the top with RTV.  After it 
hardened, I reversed the tubing and repeated the process.  The result was lighter than a solid 
fiberglass rod, waterproof, and lasted for 15 years until the whole thing came down in a windstorm.
73s, Alan WA4SCA