Your choice, of course.
In Casper, Wyo w/ their gusty 60-70 mph Chinook winds, I had to pin the mast
pipe or I would be re-aligning it every week. (TH7DXX and 40-2CD) One time
it "May-poled" a bunch of times and almost tore the connector out of a
balun.. That's when I started pinning the mast pipe to the rotor clamp.
Also, this was w/ Tail-Twister rotors and later, Create's.
When I moved and setup here in South Texas I asked around about pinning the
mast pipe. It seemed that no one did. "Let it serve as a shear-pin. Winds
here in South Texas are not bad; except if a hurricane hits; then you have
other problems."
Therefore, w/ no pinning:
With 2 stacked Yagi's ( T-12 and a KLM 3 ele 40...and a Create rotor) it
has never rotated in the rotor clamp; even last year in the near fringes of
Hurricane Rita w/ 85 MPH winds.
In your case; with no more wind load ( one 3 ele Yagi) than you are talking
about and 50-60 MPH winds; I would not pin your mast pipe. Also, it will
serve as a shear-pin in case the Hygain brake breaks. Just make sure you
torque down your clamp bolts adequately.
I would be a little concerned about that "9 foot 0.25 wall aluminum mast",
though. I think the 'norm' is to double the wall thickness when going from
steel to aluminum. Perhaps, only "4-1/2--5 feet above the tower" will be
your salvation?
Mike, K5UO
ex-NS7Z
Subject: [TowerTalk] Mast -- Drill or not?
To: towertalk@contesting.com
Message-ID: <44EEDD55.13591.1C5BE72@wa3afs.inav.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
I am just about to start installing my 9 foot roof tower with an 1/4 inch
wall aluminum mast (9 foot) with a 3 element
SteppIR mounted about 4 1/2 to 5 feet above the tower.
Is the center bolt on the Ham-IV rotator sufficient to keep the mast from
turning or should the mast be drilled so that
the bolt (or an pointy end bolt) has a more positive hold on the mast?
Winds of 50-60 mph are occasional in the
area.
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