I live in 70 mph territory, and currently have 100 ft of Rohn 25 with a
Force 12 C-3 (5.6 sq. ft., 280 inch/lb torque) just above the 25AG3
pointy-top, and a Force 12 EF-240S (3.8 sq. ft., 210 inch/lb torque) six
feet above it, each with an 18-foot boom. The top set of guys are at the
95 foot level, about 2 feet below the top of the 25AG3.
I am concerned that there is still sufficient interaction between the two
antennas to somewhat degrade the performance of the 40-meter yagi, whose
pattern still seems not up to par, even though it is mounted at 90 degrees
to the C-3. One solution could be to replace the current 2-inch Rohn mild
steel mast with 16 or more feet of chrome-moly of appropriate wall
strength. Then I could move the 40-meter yagi another 6 feet or so up the
mast (I know that MARC or similar calculations can tell me how good the
mast has to be).
An experienced big-antenna guy here thinks, however, that doing this might
overstress the 25G. I have no idea how to calculate or judge this. Seems
to me that the torque load is the same regardless of the height of the
mast, so what we are really talking about is bending moment applied to the
top section where the mast passes through it on the way to the rotator,
which is mounted about 2 feet down inside it. Would moving the small
40-meter antenna up another 6 feet put too much load on the 25AG3 section?
It would be a fairly mammoth job to replace the mast, and I'll know more
about antenna performance after next weekend, but is it even feasible?
Thanks in advance, gang.
73, Pete Smith N4ZR
n4zr@contesting.com
Loud is good.
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