Pete,
I originally put up my chromoly mast in its raw condition. That was in 1998. It
quickly rusted, but it did not make a mess. The rust did not drip and stain the
tower. However, when I upgraded the tower from 25G to 45G in the summer of
2003, I had the mast galvanized at that time. The only major issue was
transporting the 24 foot mast from the burbs into the city where the hot dip
plant is located. A minor issue was that the galvanizer called and told me that
they were having some trouble during the stripping stage - the rust was not
easy to get off. They had to go through that stage a couple of times.
I was very pleased that I did get the mast galvanized. It is much cleaner
installation and I don't get rust on my hands when I do work up there; tape to
hold feedlines in place sticks better. I definitely recommend you do it, and do
it before there is a chance for rust to build up. The quality of the
galvanizing - inside and out will be better.
One other thing - the galvanizer will need to hang the mast with hooks or
wires. My galvanizer asked me to make some small holes in both ends of the mast
for this purpose. Get out your hardest drill bit for this operation. Drilling
the chromoly is tough. Also, be sure you tell them to do a good job of letting
the excess galv drip out of the mast. You don't want pooling at the lower end.
If it's on the outside, it can be a problem.
73,
Jim K1IR
>I'm embarked on this summer's antenna project, which will involve substituting
a 16-20 foot 2" chrome-moly mast for my present 10-foot Rohn galvanized steel
one.
I have been warned that bare chrome-moly will rust and make a mess. Would it
make sense either to have it galvanized or paint it with a POR-15-type product
before it goes up? The tower has a Rohn 25 pointy-top, so some degree of wear
and tear on any coating seems inevitable, and maybe this is overkill. What do
you think?
73, Pete N4ZR
2671 calls now in the
World HF Contest Station Database
at www.pvrc.org/wcsd/wcsdsearch.htm
Jim Idelson K1IR
email k1ir at designet.com
web http://www.designet.com/k1ir
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