[aprssig] APRS Irrigation Pipe 55' mast

[Ray McKnight]

William Mckean wrote:
> Around here, Lowes Home Improvement sales a 30 foot pole that collapses
down
> to 10 feet; it would be nice to take something like that and add pullies.
>
There's another solution as well, not to detract from Bob's invention.
I don't know the proper name for these, but power utility workers use
collapsable fiberglass poles to work on high voltage lines.  I've seen
them in various lengths, maybe up to 40 ft or longer.  They generally
collapse to about 5-6 ft, and have "click buttons" that are spring loaded
to match the holes in the tops of each section with the buttons in the
bottoms of the next section.  Very easy to use, just press the button
in to collapse each section.  The one I had had a threaded mount on
the top section similar to a ratchet mount used on marine antennas.  I
simply attached a SS pulley to it to hoist wire antennas in seconds.
Now these poles are fairly light weight, so can't suppport too much
weight, at least not the top 2 sections or so, but of course for wire
antennas that's not an issue since the dipole etc can be used as 2 of the
guy wires to hold the pole.

I've seen these used poles at hamfests for under $40 or so, probably
cheaper ones are available depending on their condition.  Just make sure
you inspect it closely to make sure all the buttons and springs work
correctly and none of the tubing is cracked.

These only weight about 15-20 lbs and are about 3-4" in diameter.
I loved mine to death until I pulled too hard one day when anchoring
one guy and cracked a section.  Don't flex them too much!