Like me, many use the DX-Wire model 2020 mini telescope mast.
This mast has collapsed on me from time to time. Sometimes shortly after setting it up, because I hadn’t clamped it tightly enough, or when dismantling it.
It destroyed the screw connection at the lower end. The ring that holds the lid is broken off. The edge is quite thin. (The old version of the mast was more stable).
At first I tried a suitable plastic glue. It didn’t last 5 activations.
Now I have applied a ring of hot glue to the inside of the lower threads and glued the lid into it.
To make sure it holds for the future I put a plug made of foam rubber into the mast from below. There is enough space. The foam rubber cushions the elements when they collapse.
I recommend that you insert such a foam rubber plug in advance. This saves trouble.
Hi Armin,
This is a very good tip for everyone.
I have got into the habit of adding padding into the bottom of every new mast when I get them. It stops some of the damage to the sections and the base when a mast collapses.
My Lambdahalbe.de €36 6m mini-mast has just arrived today from Willi, (replacing one I have had for 14 years and have finally thrown out) so I was just about to go to the cellar to find some padding for it.
By the way as it seems Willi is selling-up at the end of the year and he is not going to Friedrichshafen as far as I can see from the list of exhibitors. So those looking for a brilliant travel-mast or for his (I cant make them for that price) HF j-pole “Wire antenna” antennas you need to order them asap before the stock runs down!
Willi only sells within Germany and works on pre-payment to his bank account.
NO - definitely not! I learnt after destroying the bottom of my first fibreglass mast, only then did I get into the habit…
On the decathlon mast - you could be right - even the orange tip is the same.
I suspect many of the masts (fishing rods) come from the same manufacturer (no doubt in China).
73 Ed.
P.S. Instead of my usual polystyrene bag material, I found I had some of these rubber, stick-on, cable routers for office desks and they fit exactly into the bases of my fibreglass masts;
I always cut a piece of dishwashing sponge and place in in the bottom of my masts. If the mast gets dirty, I can use it to clean the mast to prevent demage from sand. Works fine so far.
And of course, I also damaged a cap of my 13,5m heavy duty mast, when it collapsed with a light weight yagi.
I use lengths of duct tape cut into 1cm wide strips that go over the bottom in a U. The keep the insert in place if the mast collapses and also stop damage to the plastic fittings that screw together. The foamer damper insert seems a jolly good idea, I’ll be adding some to my masts when I get back home.
I started doing this a couple of years ago when I first bought one of these DX-Wire masts, unscrewed the bottom to see what’s inside, and decided there and then on exactly the same solution you’ve hit upon - a foam pad to protect those thin, thin tubes. Makes sense!
