Hills telescopic masts?

[VK4WTN]

Just wondering if anyone is using hills telescopic masts for their aerials.I have a 6.5 meter lattice mast and am going to extend it by mounting a hills 6m (2 section) mast on top of it.The lower 1.5 meters of the hills mast will slide inside the lattice and is secured by bolts leaving 4.5 m above the lattice.The hills masting will be guyed at the 3m and 6m marks in four directions.I will be mounting a 7el 6meter beam and KR400 rotator.Any advice will be appreciated, regards Wayne.

[VK4WTN]

Thanks for the reply.The 6.5m lattice is permanently up and cemented at the base and has a bracket secured to the house.The inside top of the lattice has a 65mm tube about 1.5m long with two locking bolts so I will lift the hills mast up the ladder and slide it 1.5m into the tube and lock it in place with the two locking bolts.So that leaves 1.5m of the first telescopic section coming out of the lattice tower plus the second 3 m section of the hills mast which I will then push up.I will guy the telescopic mast at the first joint which is only 1.5m above the lattice tower and also at the top of the hills mast.There will be 4 guys at these two guying points. I mainly wanted to know if the hills mast when guyed will support a 7el 6meter yagi and rotator ok.I cant see that there should be a problem once it is guyed.Thanks Wayne

[VK4WTN]

hi Matt thanks for the reply, the reason I didnt put a 6m length of pipe into the lattice tower is I wasnt too confident of lifting it up and dropping it into the top of the tower section without dropping it onto the house.The telemast is a lot easier as its basically 3m long and a lot easier to lift and drop into the top of the lattice mast.I bought a 9m telemast and only plan to use the bottom two sections and do away with the light top section.Anyway I hope this set up works ok for the time being, it should be secure once it is guyed and it will only have the one 7el 6m yagi on it.Thanks for your input Matt it was greatly appreciated cheers Wayne

[VK6LD]

Hi Wayne,

TV antenna installers don't call these "Gut Busters" for nothing!

I lowered a 15M/50ft about 6 months ago to add an antenna for wireless networking.

Besides guy wires getting tangled on the way back up, the last 2 inches of the bottom section really was a gut buster in trying to get the telo fully extended and that final locking pin in place!

73's

Rob...

[VK4TS]

Gut busters ??

The biggest problem is the leaning of the mast binding on itself..

I made up a pipe vice with a 600mm piece of 50mm square bolted to it..

By putting the vice on the telo mast about a metre from the top of the first section. Standing on the new platform rather than a ladder leaning up against the telo mast.

The mast stays straight and its quite easy (relatively) to pull the mast up to get the last pin in...

[VK6LD]

Gut busters ??

The biggest problem is the leaning of the mast binding on itself..

I made up a pipe vice with a 600mm piece of 50mm square bolted to it..

By putting the vice on the telo mast about a metre from the top of the first section. Standing on the new platform rather than a ladder leaning up against the telo mast.

The mast stays straight and its quite easy (relatively) to pull the mast up to get the last pin in...

Hi Trent,

Maybe I should've called it a hernia buster for all the northerners out there...! But after all, the northerner's still call rugby "football" - AFL is the only football game!

Ladders leaning against telo's are quite prone to slipping and dangerous. I prefer a scaffold platform.

Cheers,

Rob...

[VK6MB]

Maybe someone can put me in the right direction.
I have a 4 section 75' mast with the bottom section having 285mm (11") sides.
What is a realistic antenna load for VHF/UHF beams on a rotator?

Thanks
73 Mike

[VK4TS]

11 inch sides would make it and equivalent of the ROHN 25 check their website for wind
load spes..

[VK6MB]

Thanks Trent.
I had a look on their site, at the 20g and 25g, but they are not telescopic.
I can't find any info about the Hills lattice masts on Google.
My qth is on a bit of a rise in the town, so I might just use the lower 2 sections at 12m and use 6 guys on the top to brace it better.

Cheers Mike