[Antennas] Texas Towers Aluminum Tubing, A Warning.

Mon, 26 Aug 2002 08:14:27 -0400

QC... Quality Control.... " All qualities are not equal!"... 

Jerry 
W3CDE 

-----Original Message----- 
From: George, W5YR [ mailto:[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> ] 
Sent: Monday, August 26, 2002 2:31 AM 
To: Jim Hill 
Cc: [email protected] 
Subject: Re: [Antennas] Texas Towers Aluminum Tubing, A Warning. 

Curious - I ad up a full-size 1/4 wave 40 meter vertical for several
years 
made from tubing from Texas Towers. They said nothing about NOT using it

for a vertical. I had none of the problems you descibe with the tubing
and 
it was all telescoping to the next size, etc. 

Guess times and tolerances change!   <:} 

73/72/oo, George W5YR - the Yellow Rose of Texas         
Fairview, TX 30 mi NE of Dallas in Collin county EM13qe   
Amateur Radio W5YR, in the 56th year and it just keeps getting better! 
QRP-L 1373 NETXQRP 6 SOC 262 COG 8 FPQRP 404 TEN-X 11771 I-LINK 11735 
Icom IC-756PRO #02121  Kachina 505 DSP  #91900556  Icom IC-765 #02437 

Jim Hill wrote: 
> 
> Their drawn aluminum tubing telescopes but the tolerances are tight. 
> Imperfections or particles can cause the tubing to jam, preventing it
from 
> telescoping further or taken apart. 
> 
> I purchased a Butternut/Bencher HF2V, but the bottom section was too
short 
> for a chimney mount. Butternut increased the strength by using two 
> telescoped tubes, so I purchased two 6' Texas Towers tube sections of
the 
> same diameters. When I telescoped them, I noticed it took more and
more 
> force as I continued to insert the inner tube. I decided to remove the

> inner tube and inspect the surfaces, but as I attempted to separate
them 
> difficulty continued to increase and the tubing finally jammed. I cut
off 
> the remaining tube and carefully checked the outer surface. I could
feel 
> some scratches, so I sanded it with 600 grit sandpaper, cleaned it
with 
> paint thinner, lubricated it, and inserted it in the other end.  I
also 
> filed the ends to remove any burrs. 
> 
> I'm not sure what happened. Were there particles inside the larger
tube, or 
> upset metal caused by small surface scratches?  The problem reminded
me of 
> copper pipe fittings jamming when put together. 
> 
> I contacted Texas Towers a few months earlier about using their tubing
for 
> temporary vertical antenna masts.  They said "absolutely not", and I
now 
> know why. 
> 
> I had no problems with the Bencher bottom section, but it was much
shorter. 
> Jim 
- - - 

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