Has anyone tried these poles?
They seem like a nice antenna mast. 40ft collapsible to 2.7ft, and only weighs 21oz. I would think if its a fishing pole it would withstand the rigors of SOTA.
KK4NQQ
SOTA RANGER
Just Saying: looks almost like the Same pole the EAGLE One Vertical is made of.
W4DOW in W4V
In reply to KK4NQQ:
I use their poles. I think I’m using a nominal 35 foot pole. The poles are always a little shorter than advertised. It is a little too tall for my pack, so it sticks out the top. I’ve done about 30-40 of my activations with it. I quite like it. I’ve stopped using anything else.
The only thing that would be better would be a 2.2 foot collapsed size. They do have a 2.2 foot collapsed, but it is not so long when extended. (I own one. I don’t use it any more, because I really want my full 20m EFHW on the mast, so I use the 35 foot pole.)
It is a carbon fiber pole. Some people are concerned that the CF is conductive. I haven’t had a problem with it.
73 DE K4KPK / Kevin
In reply to K4KPK:
Some people are concerned that the CF is conductive. I haven’t had a problem with it.
I guess it’d depend a fair bit on how you use it to support what kind of antenna? I’d presume it’d be more likely to cause trouble if, say, twin feeder or the driven element of a vertical was close to the pole…
73, Rick M0LEP
In reply to M0LEP:
I have a CF roach pole holding up the centre of my 102-foot doublet with the twin feeder running down the pole. I measured its conductivity before trusting it for the job, and for all practical purposes it is non-conducting. I can’t find the actual figure, but it was of the order of megohms per inch. Other people have found other CF poles to be highly conducting, so I guess it is a matter of how they are manufactured.
73
Brian G8ADD
In reply to G8ADD:
Other people have found other CF poles to be highly conducting
When carbon-fibre fishing poles first appeared on the market there were stories of unfortunate fishermen being zapped when their CF pole touched high voltage power lines. However, those poles probably weren’t telescopic. I’d expect the actual CF to be below the surface, so that with telescopic poles there’s at least some insulation (at DC) between sections? Time to think about some RF experiments…
In reply to M0LEP:
For my use I discarded the top sections - too whippy - so measured cut edges on them, both longitudinal and transverse. I imagine that the individual fibres are coated in some polymer which is non-conducting.
73
Brian G8ADD
In reply to G8ADD:
individual fibres are coated in some polymer which is non-conducting.
…and the individual fibres may run along the length of the pole, or round the circumference, or in a spiral, or some combination of those, and they may be longer or shorter, and more closely packed (in which case electrical contact between fibres might be more likely) or not; lots of scope for variations…
73, Rick M0LEP