Re: [amsat-bb] Cross booms: Fiberglass vs. Acrylic Rod?

["John Stephensen, KD6OZH" <kd6ozh@xxxxxxx>]

Acrylic plastic rods have little mechanical strength compared to fiberglas
so I wouldn't recommend their use as a crossboom. Short pieces of acrylic
rod do work nicely as plugs to prevent the ends of the fiberglas tubes from
being crushed.

73,

John
KD6OZH

----- Original Message -----
From: <KB7ADO@aol.com>
To: <amsat-bb@AMSAT.Org>
Sent: Thursday, 13 September 2001 05:49 UTC
Subject: [amsat-bb] Cross booms: Fiberglass vs. Acrylic Rod?


> I'm looking into getting a solid rod vs. the hollow 1.5 in x 5 ft KLM type
> that I have now for my cross boom.  One outfit called E-Com Plastics
> (www.ridoutplastics.com/acprofrodtub.html) has both extruded and cast
acrylic
> rod available in lengths up to 6 ft.  The extruded rod is several dollars
per
> ft less than the cast rod.
>
> My questions are:
> * would an acrylic rod be better or worse than fiberglass, and which
should I
> consider, the extruded or cast rod?
> * what are other sources for the solid fiberglass rods besides Max-Gain
> Systems in GA?
>
> Because Max-Gain's solid fiberglass rods are only available in 8 ft
lengths,
> UPS would charge the 30 lb. rate for shipping, which means I'm looking at
a
> minimum of $89 for one 8ft x 1.5" rod.
>
> Thanks.
> Bob, KB7ADO
>
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