Thanks all. I really liked the Zite ones, but turns out Amazon Germany won’t dispatch them to Ireland. I’ve bought many things from amazon.de, so I guess it’s because of the package format.
I may end up buying one light decathlon as per @OE5REO Martin’s advice, and one heavier Sotabeam as per @EI3LH Ian’s and @EI9KY Colm’s advice. Then see what works in the field for me.
Hi Adam,
Zite themselves will ship to you direct in Ireland - problem is it’s €20 on top of the €23 for the mast.
Translation:
Hi Ed,
Thank you. Indeed, direct order from Zite worked 
So the first mast is ordered. One-two more will follow. Then I’m sure questions will follow once I start using them…
Currently the mast I’m using is from Decathlon, the Travel 600. I bouth it long time ago and it works great for my endfed and dipole antennas.
73 Manu!
Nice! Did you just stabilize it with stones, no guy lines?
You should also check the Fiberglas poles from spiderbeam:
I was in the Vosges region of France earlier in the year and used a SOTABEAMS Carbon 6 pole without the 2 top sections. It worked flawlessly and is compact and extremely light weight.
The Sotabeams tactical mini works well for me. I rang Sotabeams this time last year about sending items to Ireland (I needed a replacement top section) and they had no problem as tactical minis do not need to be CE marked. Items that do are the problem. Maybe this position has changed in the last twelve months, but my order arrived just fine. Here’s the mast with Clansman 320 and 8m tuned wire antenna on the summit of Sliabh Alp (EI/IW-066) last month.
.
I’ve only ever used the SOTABeams Tactical Mini. 200+ activations with my first one thus far and I’ve never felt the need to improve upon or replace it. It’s been up in all sorts of very poor, windy and otherwise challenging winter conditions.
Cheers,
Denis
Thanks @MI0KXT @EI6IRB @MW0CBC . Looks like the second one to try is the SOTABeams Tactical Mini. I think WiMo’s tactical mini mast is the same thing. I’ll order there.
Were you working the 8 meter band!? Fantastic!
Have you any gear that can do 5 meters?
Ah no, the antenna is 8m long. The Clansman 320 will tune via its internal ATU with full deflection on its meter through its entire frequency range (2.000 Mhz to 29.999 Mhz) with an 8m wire (mine is modified for 160m which is great /P on the 8m wire). I was on 20m on Sliabh Alp.
For 5 metres and 8 metres I could use the PRC-351/2 with a ground spike antenna, though the set is VHF only. Here it is in PRC 352 configuration during an activation of Djouce (EI/IE-007) on 4m.
Ex-military sets are heavy, but in lashing rain on a summit they don’t give in. They are also easy to set up and you get used to the weight.
Best wishes to all,
Michael EI6IRB.
Hi Adam! I don’t use any kind of guy lines, I only use two velcro straps that I attach to a bush, a tree, a pole, or even to hiking pole, and sometimes also to a rock; that’s where I fasten the mast. Last Saturday, I was activating Sota EA7/MA-022, and you can see where I attached the mast using a fishing pole.
Manu.
Thanks, this is helpful. I think I know everything I should know about masts now! On Irish summits I may get away without guy lines where OSI trig points are, but for the rest of them I will need to bring some rope and pegs. Can’t wait for a free weekend to try all this out. May not be soon though.
I’m glad it was helpful! I hope we can do a S2S sometime, especially if you’re operating in CW mode.
73/44. Manu!
S2S definitely, but CW – not so fast Manu! I have only learnt S, O and again S in Morse code 
I’m still new to radio. But yeah, CW is something I need to learn.
Well, you already have a new challenge: learning CW….
It’s better to operate away from trig points. They are a magnet for muggles and you don’t want to get in their way, and you definitely don’t want them disturbing you. It’s not such a problem on rarely visited summits (perhaps they are more common in Ireland than in England) but on some peaks there are so many visitors I want to be as far away as possible. Also, you may be wanting to find shelter and that’s often away from the trig point.
I’ve got this model in Decathlon Spain.
I was in Spain for 10 ten days a few years back and NO Decathlon First fish masts anywhere
I did find Komunica antennas
I brought my Sotabeams Carbon 6, efhw and Chelegance MC-750 and a Icom 705
John VE3IPS
