[MAMS] April 2011 Microwave Activity Day

[Zack Widup]

Hi Dave,

How are you doing?

That is what I'd do if it were a home station. It's a portable station
and I've tried to make everything as small and compact as I can. Since
I only expect winds like that once or twice a year at most when I'm
portable, I don't know if I want to do that.

The mast sections I use are the 5-foot interlocking lengths sold by
Radio Shack. I found that the smaller diameter end fits perfectly into
a tripod I have when I remove the extender shaft with the tripod head
on it. I can generally go up to 10 feet with mast on this tripod
(Bogen 3011).

I usually carry for or five of these mast sections around with me on
portable operations. I have a tilt-over base and guy ropes that I have
had come down only once in years of operating portable. And if I'd
been able to get to the ropes to tighten them in time, that wouldn't
have happened. I usually go up 20 feet with the 144/222/432 mast when
portable.

73, Zack W9SZ


On 4/5/11, Dave Sublette <k4to at arrl.net> wrote:
>>   I don't know how to keep
>> the 902 looper from spinning. I had the bolts on the mast clamped as
>> tight as I could get them and it still spun around.
>>
> 1) use a larger diameter mast.
>
> 2) use a larger boom-to-mast plate and double the number of clamps that
> go around the mast.
>
> For just a small increase in mast diameter, you will get a great
> increase in torque resistance.
>
> 73,
>
> Dave
>