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Re: [TowerTalk] Joining Boom Tubing

To: L L bahr <pulsarxp@embarqmail.com>
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Joining Boom Tubing
From: Stan Stockton <wa5rtg@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2014 05:53:12 -0500
List-post: <towertalk@contesting.com">mailto:towertalk@contesting.com>
You can buy 2.75 OD x .120 wall tubing from DX Engineering.  The inside 
diameter will be 2.510 giving you ten thousandths clearance to over sleeve the 
joints.

http://www.dxengineering.com/parts/dxe-at1316

73...Stan, K5GO

Sent from my iPad

> On Sep 15, 2014, at 1:02 AM, "L L bahr " <pulsarxp@embarqmail.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> I'm slowly building up a 40 meter Moxon Beam and the boom needs to be 
> somewhere between 24 and 27 foot long depending on the article used to build 
> it.  The boom has me stuck.  As all of you know, most aluminum is sold in 6 
> foot lengths for shipping purposes.  That means the tubes need to be 
> connected.  I'm at the point where I need to determine what I am going to use 
> for boom material and how to connect the segments.  
> 
> I have some 2 1/2 inch aluminum tubing I bought surplus many years ago.  The 
> stuff has a wall thickness of around 1/16th inch thick and is hard aluminum, 
> probably 6061 alloy.  I've got plenty of it in 6 foot lengths.  It's gorgeous 
> looking tubing and I initially figured and wanted to use it for my boom 
> material.  However, I have been racking my brain out trying to figure out how 
> to join the sections.  (The inside diameter is around 2 3/8th inches ID.) I 
> tried 2 inch schedule 40 pipe and it is a tad too large in diameter to fit 
> into this 2 1/2 inch OD tubing with an approximate 2-3/8 inch ID. (I thought 
> maybe sanding down some schedule 40 aluminum pipe but would I get it to 
> really work?)  I thought maybe turning some oak down to a diameter to fit 
> inside this tubing,  I have hunted high and low for some aluminum stock to 
> either snuggly fit inside or outside this pipe with no success.  If I buy 3 
> inch OD tubing, it will have an ID of 2-3/4 inches.  I even thought of 
> slicing th
 e 
> ends open in the form of a cross in some 3 inch tubing and then use hose 
> clamps to secure things, but then the pipe would only be tight on one end of 
> the joining pipe. I thought maybe of slicing the 3 inch pipe open along it's 
> length and then use hose clamps to pull it tight and together again around my 
> existing pipe.  The bottom line is I have not been able to figure out how to 
> use my tubing satisfactorily.  I'm now starting to think maybe my tubing is 
> not the answer for my needed boom material.  That really seems like a big 
> waste as I know if I bought this tubing new it would run big bucks.  A 40 
> meter Moxon is no small antenna so the boom material needs to be decent and 
> adequate for my purpose.
> 
> That said,  am I missing something here?  Anyone on here who could get me on 
> a proper path?  I need to either find of way to use my existing 6 foot 
> lengths of 2-1/2 OD tubing with a 2-3/8th inch ID or move on to something 
> else for the boom. I'd sure appreciate hearing from you experts as my 
> quandary has been bugging me for weeks now. Right now I am just spinning my 
> wheels going nowhere.  I might add, I do not have a machine shop at my QTH.  
> I thought I would try one last time to figure out how to use my tubing before 
> I give up on that idea by asking you guys for advice.  Any and all comments 
> would really be appreciated.
> 
> Lee, w0vt
> Houston
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