Kent, Suggest you read and perform the calculations in Calculating the Required Mast Strength section of *ARRL Antenna Book. *You will also want to search NWS.gov web site for Maximum Recorded Wind Gust speed at weather reporting stations nearest you.
NORRL Lee On Mon, Apr 29, 2019 at 5:47 PM Bill <w2...@nycap.rr.com> wrote: > A PVC mast 3' into the ground will easily break off - use 2" galvanized > pipe and allow several feet above the grass level. This will allow you > to connect the 50' mast to same. Best to make a swivel mount several > feet off the grass level to allow for putting it up and down. You must > guy this tower every 10 feet or it will do the dance in the wind. For a > light weight installation that is well guyed you can use post setting > mix. You should use a tube and make a mushroom at the bottom to keep > frost heaving at bay. > > Guying is very important - you will gain most of your wind resistance > strength from it. It will not survive even modest winds without guying. > > I do something similar with a 25' piece of 2" aluminum pipe fastened at > the grass level to an 8' T-post driven in 4'. The tower is guyed at 12' > and the top. Guys go to T-posts and are tied off above 4' to provide for > easy mowing. T-posts must be the heavy cast types - rolled are just junk > and will easily fold under any load. > > My NVIS wire antennas (75 and 40 meters) have survived in excess of 70 > MPH winds with no problems at all. My system has been up for about 10 > years without any failures. > > Just remember, 50' is about four times more of a problem than my 25'. > Also, aluminum pipe, although more expensive, will be much more solid > than any plastic tube. > > Bill W2BLC > > > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
