The new wrinkle is extending my military mast sections vertically with the 20 foot crappie pole. The 1.5 inch "four way" PVC adapter will fit over the end of of a military mast section. Note for this application I sawed off the male end of one military mast section. The crappie pole will fit into a 1.5 inch two foot PVC pipe. This in pushed into the top of the "four way" The butt of the crappie pole is locked in. So with five four foot mast sections plus the three foot one with the adapter this yields 43 feet. This assembly is attached to a hitch adapter on the back of my truck. I hope the pictures help.
I tested this configuration out in the driveway and at this month's rocket launch. The height of the mast lets me have a 30 meters half wave pretty much vertical and operate beside the truck. I used a separate wire attached lower on the mast for a 20 meters half wave. I was able to tune them end fed with both the Hendricks BLT and SLT+ tuners. I was also successful tuning the 30 meter half wave wire on 40 meters. So I have made contacts on 40, 30 and 20 with this arrangement. I had a nice long contact with KB4JR Bernie in Lake Wales FL on 30 meters from the rocket field.
Another small detail, I found that "snap" crimp connectors from Home Depot are my answer for joining wires. They push together similar to banana plugs.
I enjoy Rapid Deployment Amateur Radio, Field Days, QRP, satellites, and CW. I have many friends in the hobby that make it fun. I will keep you posted on what I learn about amateur radio on this blog.
