Re: [amsat-bb] horizontal boom

[Andrew Glasbrenner <glasbrenner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

At the risk of repeating another cycle of the fiberglass-metal debate I'm gonna recommend 2 things. Google around for the link to Kent Britain's original article on fiber vs metal and read it closely...there is more to it than just mounting them as an x vs a +. I use a 10 ft tv mast from Lowes. Works fine, and I don't notice any skewing or circularity effects either with sats or terrestrial weak signal...

73, Drew KO4MA

-----Original Message-----
From: Dave NØRQ <n0rq-lists@sbcglobal.net>
Sent: Oct 5, 2005 5:05 PM
To: amsat-bb@amsat.org
Subject: [amsat-bb] horizontal boom

(Thanks to several of you for answering my "rattling" G-5500 question!
The consensus was that it is normal and OK.)

And since I'm new at this, I'll have a few more questions.  Here's one:

For the horizontal boom that goes through the elevation portion of the
G-5500, what is a reasonable material to use?  The specs say it can
be between 1 1/4" and 1 5/8".  A normal vertical mast is 2" (or more),
so getting one of those won't work.  What about heavy electrical
conduit, say 1 1/2", from Home Depot / Lowes?  Perhaps a 10'
piece?  This stuff is heavy, though I don't know how strong it is.
(I don't mean the lightweight thin-walled EMT.)

I know a bit about the debate of maybe using fiberglass, and I
could do that if it was readily available and reasonably economincal.
However, it seems that most folks think that metal is OK, and I
was planning to mount the CP antennas so the elements are
in an "X" with respect to the boom, instead of a "+" -- thus reducing
the interacting.

(Oh, I plan to have an M2 70cm CP on one end and an M2 2m CP
on the other end.)

Suggestions appreciated!

- Dave N0RQ
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