[Antennas] Texas Towers Aluminum Tubing, A Warning.

[Jim Hill]

My posting resulted in far more responses than I anticipated, so I'll add a 
few more comments.

My post was just meant as a warning, not as any unfavorable comments toward 
Texas Towers.  In my case, I'm still able to use the tubing, but otherwise 
it's a problem.  You have the cost of the replacement tubing, plus a few 
dollars since you are under the $15 minimum, shipping, and delaying your 
project a number of days.  It's better to realize you may have a problem, 
be careful, and immediately separate the tubing if there is any 
binding.  My problem occurred with 1 1/8" and 1 1/4" tubing.

I think my problem was the result of galling caused by a metal particle 
inside one of the tubes.  I had a little problem starting to telescope the 
tubes, and noticed a slight ridge when moving my finger nail across the 
inside of one of the tubes. I deburred the ends, and probably didn't remove 
all particles.  I checked the 2' bottom section of the Bencher HF-2V again. 
I had absolutely no problem telescoping this tubing.  I purchased the HF-2V 
from another ham, and he said he was unable to separate two of the upper 
sections of the antenna as received (it was shipped with these tubes 
telescoped).  Bencher sent him replacement tubing.

When I contacted Texas Towers earlier,  I was looking for tubing I could 
carry in the back of my pickup to use as a vertical when camping.  I 
purchased some military surplus mast sections from Henry Pollock, which 
work fine. Unfortunately, I misplaced his email and web site addresses, but 
still have his return address on the shipping carton.  Can anybody help?

Where do you buy Penetrox?

Jim





At 10:38 PM 8/25/2002 -0700, you 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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