-
You can now help support WorldwideDX when you shop on Amazon at no additional cost to you! Simply follow this Shop on Amazon link first and a portion of any purchase is sent to WorldwideDX to help with site costs.
Best Mast Pipe
- Thread starter Brain the Dog
- Start date
Didn't reinvent the wheel.......made it better. It was what was lying around, a redneck with a 12 pack and a plan. Nothing was spent at the Big Box Store. Just a little elbow grease and imagination.
Used elec. rigid conduit for mast pipe for many installs.
Found a push up discarded side of road, stopped to ask if I could have it and they gave me a bunch of 3/4" x 10 sections of galv pipe also. Actually had been considering the push up before scrap building, but got to drink'n an think'n......an weeeeelllll. Let's just do it. Then found the push up months later.
I live in NW Arkansas. There are 2Jpme Depots, and 5 Lowe's in the area. None of them stock a pushup pole. Special order only.
All of them stock EMT and fence rail which costs slightly more than 1/3 the price of an equivalent height push-up pole.
That's why I chose to use it; availability and cost.
All of them stock EMT and fence rail which costs slightly more than 1/3 the price of an equivalent height push-up pole.
That's why I chose to use it; availability and cost.
For a clean fit for EMT conduit: https://www.harborfreight.com/medium-tail-pipe-expander-63703.html
I expand it just enough to slip the other pipe in side and then Weld them together.
I expand it just enough to slip the other pipe in side and then Weld them together.
Shadetree Mechanic
Delaware Base Station 808
Just don't breathe the pink smoke from the Zinc coating. It can do damage to the nervous system. I heard of a guy that made lawn ornaments of some kind and got some galvanized pipe to work with. His life was never the same after that.
That little bit ain't gonna hurt ya! Have welded plenty of grating and cold galv. steel. If it makes you a little nauseous, drink some milk. The fumes from the welding rods are far worse. Those 5P rods are now considered bad to breathe, we done breathed that crap for years in industry. Occupational hazzzzzzard. I now only stutter on z's.
The ABSOLUTE BEST mast material is GUADUA !! https://www.bambooimport.com/en/guadua-bamboo-pole-o-11-13-x-200-cm
Guadua can be considered bamboo on steroids. It is wood, can run from 3 - 5 inches in diameter, 30 to 50 feet tall, straight and strong as hell !!! I have used Guadua for my antenna masts ever since we moved to Colombia 12 years ago. I ran a 2-element quad atop a 13 meter guadua pole without guy wires, and it survived 11 years of Colombian thunderstorms.
The best thing about using this as an antenna mast is that it is NOT metal, and does not attract lightning. Why use a metal mast that is nothing more than a lightning rod ??
If you know anything about bamboo, it is that it will grow anywhere as long as there is a lot of water available. There are many places that will sell guadua sprouts that you can plant and harvest after only a years growth. Give it a try.
- 399
Guadua can be considered bamboo on steroids. It is wood, can run from 3 - 5 inches in diameter, 30 to 50 feet tall, straight and strong as hell !!! I have used Guadua for my antenna masts ever since we moved to Colombia 12 years ago. I ran a 2-element quad atop a 13 meter guadua pole without guy wires, and it survived 11 years of Colombian thunderstorms.
The best thing about using this as an antenna mast is that it is NOT metal, and does not attract lightning. Why use a metal mast that is nothing more than a lightning rod ??
If you know anything about bamboo, it is that it will grow anywhere as long as there is a lot of water available. There are many places that will sell guadua sprouts that you can plant and harvest after only a years growth. Give it a try.
- 399
Last edited:
The only thing I disagree about is the lightning issue. Lightning hits trees and wooden power poles all the time. Mast conductivity has nothing to do with the likelihood of it being hit by lightning. After all you have a metallic feedline running straight up it. I had lightning strike the wooden power pole right in front of my house a few years ago completely ignoring the metal tower in my yard of similar height.
If you buy it it is almost $30.00 per segment. Shipping would be cost prohibitive as well.
The dimension they quote is diameter and no mention of length.
The dimension they quote is diameter and no mention of length.
To be honest I am not sure the wall thickness of schedule 40 pipe. My reference files including that one are on my laptop at home. I am currently on vacation on Grand Manan Island and too lazy to Google that info.
I have FOUR yagi antennas on a 21 ft piece of schedule 40 pipe (11 feet above the top of my Rohn 25) It has survived many Hurricanes & lots of Florida thunderstorms with Zero issues over 15 years so far.One of those antennas weighs 55 lbs.
SIX-SHOOTER