Looking for a US based source for a telescopic antenna mast suitable for SOTA activations. Any info would be appreciated.
73,
AE7JT
W7-Washington
In reply to AE7JT:
Try a fishing tackle shop.
6m fibreglass fishing pole is popular.
They cost around £10 to £20…probably the same in US$
Good luck,
John
In reply to G1STQ:
20ft ones here…
In reply to AE7JT:
As a thumb rule: The longer your pole is, the higher you can erect your antenna. A few extra meter height will improve your performance significantly. Thherefore you need as long pole as you can get! But be cautious: the top 1-2 section are too thin, those can not bare the load of an inverted vee plus the coaxial cable, so you’d better leave them at home! But even with a nominal 8m (about 24’) length pole too you will be able to set up your antenna into a reasonable 6m (20’) height. On the other hand: take care, and be prepared that the salesmen won’t understand your needs. They will assume, you’re going to fish. (Most of these rods will be furnished with string guiding rings. You don’t need the at all, those only make it more expensive.) Tell them right at the begining of the conversation that you need a naked rod!
I am sure that entering “telescopic fishing rod” or “telescopic fishing pole” into your browser, you will get a lot of links. Excuse me for a rather malicious note regarding the supply: It seems, poor american fishermen do not really know, what a real telescopic rod looks like! 
The most available via the internet are 8-10’ long only… At the local chinese market I can buy 7-8-9-10 meters long ones for about 20-30 bucks but allegedly sometimes even 12-15m long ones are also available!
Have a look at these:
http://www.psfishing.com/diabolo-v-telescopic-fishing-pole.html
Article # : 11074/700, size: 23’ Price = $79.60
http://www.myfishinggoods.com/rods.html
Here you can find several 24’ long ones in the 65…100 bucks region:
http://www.allfishingbuy.com/guestbook.html
From the “Spider Beam Team” you can get heavy duty 12…26m high poles (designed for 4-square array and SOTA applications) : Spiderbeam© High Performance Lightweight Antennas - Fiberglass Poles .
73: Jóska, HA5CW
In reply to HA5CW:
From the “Spider Beam Team” you can get heavy duty 12…26m
high poles (designed for 4-square array and SOTA applications) :
Spiderbeam© High Performance Lightweight Antennas - Fiberglass Poles
Jóska, I have a 12m Spiderbeam pole but in my view it is far too heavy for SOTA activations - I take it in the car and use it for /P where I don’t have to walk far. It’s very strong though!
The telescopic poles designed for fishing are of course much lighter, since when fishing they are held nearer horizontal than vertical! It means that of course they are also not as strong - I crushed a section of one of my SOTA fishing poles by using an unsuitable clamp for a 2m Yagi.
73
John GM8OTI
In reply to HA5CW:
From what I have been told you need to use Fibreglass poles and not carbon fibre
The first link for the diabolo site is a Carbon pole.
HTH Mark
I appreciate all the feedback, links and such. I’ll post again with what I find.
-AE7JT
In reply to G0NMY:
Dear Mark!
Probably you’re right, regarding the material as I did not check it at all.
However if installing our permanent antenna on steel structure (a tower) or erect our dipoles between steel poles makes no problem, why would it be different in case of a temporary application like SOTA? Maybe a carbon pole detunes somewhat your inverted vee from the theoretical size but ground capacitance does the same. But you are supposed to use the same pole for activations, thus you need to make fine tuning (shortening the wires) only once, the very first time.
Lightning protection under stormy conditions is a far more significant issue, I think. But please consider: even if you use a fibre pole, the antenna wires and the coaxial cable overlooking the environment mean practically the very same lightning hazard as a carbon pole does. This may ring you a bell, the basic precaution your grandpa’ may have taught you: don’t you stand beneath a tall tree in a stormy weather. Therefore you may have a pole of whatever material, you need to QRT, dismount your antenna and leave the barren summit in order to avoid potential lightning shock.
73: Jóska, HA5CW
In reply to HA5CW:
However if installing our permanent antenna on steel structure (a
tower) or erect our dipoles between steel poles makes no problem, why
would it be different in case of a temporary application like SOTA?
Maybe a carbon pole detunes somewhat your inverted vee from the
theoretical size but ground capacitance does the same. But you are
supposed to use the same pole for activations, thus you need to make
fine tuning (shortening the wires) only once, the very first time.
Where it makes a difference is when you use a vertically polarised beam on V/UHF, but it could also be a problem if you use a doublet on HF since you would need to route the feeder well away from the pole. It would be absolutly wrong to use it with a vertical!
73
Brian G8ADD
In reply to G8ADD:
Brian, this is a realistic point. I did not consider this aspect. My excuse is that I do not have “kitchen radio” equipment, I work DX! 
Therefore I don’t have any vertival polarisation antenna even if I am QRV up to 10 GHz. 
73: Jóska, HA5CW