I've used a PVC pipe around 1.5 or 2" o.d. and ~ 3 feet long, for the past 11 years. No problems so far but it is braced with dacron from the insulator end, back up to the mast a few feet above where the PVC is clamped to the mast. Mine is unprotected from sun but the sun exposure is less in the Chicago area. Of course when it eventually fails, it will be in January, hi. If I had it to do over again I would have used the gray PVC that is supposedly UV resilient, and taped over it as K9YC suggested. Mine is hung the same way--wire through dog bone insulator on rope through pulley, pulley attached to PVC.
I'll bet that an aluminum pipe would work okay since the wire is well isolated by the insulator, rope, pulley, rope series but use dacron not wire and a decent insulator. 73 Rob K5UJ _________________ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
