I am also a big fan of the Spiderbeam fiberglass poles and have three of the 12-meter ones. I also bought their clamps and guy wire supports and they do make life easier. I deploy one or more of these at home with a number of wire antennas for the period when I am operating and take them down when I am off the air. I successfully argued with my HOA that this did not constitute "erecting an antenna", and pointed out that I am included in the Tucson area's emergency response list of radio stations available for public use in the event of disasters or other civil emergency. They may not be completely happy with me, but they've decided to run with the compromise! Mike AF7ON
I have been using a 12 meter Spiderbeam telescopic mast for about four years, both portable and more or less permanent at my QTH. Right now, It is holding my EFHW antenna for 20 meters straight up. Of course, it can handle wire antennas for the upper bands vertically as well. I have also used it to support a multiband EFHW antenna configured as a sloper. This thing is rugged and takes much abuse. The mast can easily be handled by one person. The next larger Spiderbeam mast needs two people. I bought a 15 meter mast from another company, but it is simply too flimsy. The Spiderbeam is THE telescopic mast.
I slid a 4' section of crappie rod over the tip to make it 43', ran a wire up the inside and have an MFJ tuner at the base. 72 60' radials laid out on the ground. Tunes up fine 80m-10m. Not winning any contests with it but it gets me out there when I have to lower the tower in storms.
I've got 2 of these - one for travel and one for home. We spend a couple of months each winter in Aruba and operate as 'P4/" which is a ball. I have built a carrying case out of drainage pipe which holds the mast, feed line and antenna wire making transportation a breeze and the airlines accept it as checked luggage. There are constant heavy trade winds that sweep across Aruba and puts the mast to a real test. I had doubts that it would survive, but it has worked very well for the 3 years that it has been used. Since we rent houses on the island, each year presents a unique challenge to mount and support the mast and antenna wire, but a few feet of rope tying the mast to a fence post or palm tree has worked great without guy lines. The antenna has been a 130 ft piece of wire end fed with either a 49:1 transformer or an auto tuner. Results have been excellent with lots of DX and all band operation (160 thru 10 meters). The most recent wire configuration was what I have called a "Lazy-Z" since I simply strung the wire between palm trees, fence posts and a bathroom window resulting in some very odd vertical and horizontal angles to simply fit the wire into the space available. One simple mod I did to strengthen the top section was to fit a 12" piece of hobby brass tubing over the end of the top section and inserting an eyelet just to distribute the stresses over a larger area of the small diameter top section tip. I have some pictures of the mast bending and flexing in the heavy winds, and it is amazing to me that it could flex so radically and still survive. The mast is light weight and a snap for a single operator to erect. During the 2019 visit, I managed more than 3,000 Q's from all around the world using my IC-7300. K3DMG (P4/K3DMG)
Hi, Have a ZS6BKW on mine with no guys & fully extended, currently getting 45mph winds gusting, it sways at least 10 feet either way at the top, looks scary but not looking as if it will break. Not sure about the 70 mph though, think I would drop mine in that wx, hi. 73 Nigel
Here's the full scoop on the Mini's which should be in the U.S. come April-May; https://www.dj0ip.de/spiderbeam/fiberglass-spiderpole/new-mini-poles/ I can't wait to get a couple of the 10 meter poles; one for home and one for the beach---40 meter dx here I come! 73, Jeff
Put an 80 meter ocf up with a 4:1 balun and coax it will break. Even though its HD its still a telescoping fiberglass mast and has limits.
I like Spiderbeam products. I use 3 of those mast for a Bobtail Curtain on 40m. Very ligth and easy to mount. Been using it for several expeditions on islands of Brittany. I have also 2 heavy duty spiderbeam 14 ele 20 to 10 m In case of trouble you can buy spare parts instead of a complete mast Dick F6DXE
I have a Spiderbeam as the top part of a 'permanent' mast. I removed a few top sections (as they flew around in heavy wind too much , bending under the weight of antenna wires) and now it sits sturdily on top of a 5m (16 ft) al scaffold pole which swivels up and down on an axis through two tall fence posts. Crosspieces fixed to the al pole and Spiderbeam enable me to rig the structure with steel cable and strong kevlar paracord; Martingale Rigging style. It's self-supporting with no guys going to the ground. I reinforced the base section of the Spiderbeam with fibreglass and resin to increase its wall thickness to 1 inch where it fits snugly over the top of the 50mm dia al pole. I developed the idea from pictures of homebrew wooden masts on the Antentop website, a great resource. Total height is 12 m (39 ft) (Of course it could be taller if one sacrificed strength and stability.) This wooden, al pole and Spiderbeam contraption supports a 135 ft vee doublet, a motorised satellite dish, an ADSB antenna, an active antenna, a remote atu and whatever other experiments I care to homebrew! It's sprayed grey to match the London skies. Some passers-by who've noticed the top of the mast above my roof have looked puzzled and asked if I have a ship in the back garden. 73 y'all, Jeff
I've built a 40 meter 4 SQ using the same masts. Put them up at night (40 meters after all) and down at night. Placed 4 2-foot PVC sections in cement ...2 1/4th inch so the 2 inch Spiderbeam masts slip in side. Sure better to have up all the time, but at least this way you avoid the HOA Nazi's (don't mean to offend Nazi's, LOL....quite a nightmare). The 4 SQ works quite well...similar to 2 L yagi. Granted have about a mile of radials in the ground but once they're in, you're done...the grass makes them disappear. 73 es Aloha. AH6FC
I just got it yesterday. I have not had the chance to really try it out but I did take it out and extend it. It feels solid and all sections lock properly. One nice thing about it is the end section is hollow, so you could thread a wire down the length of the mast if desired. It looks to be about 6" longer than the Tactical Mini from SOTABeams (another good mast). After getting a chance to use it in the field I'll post another review with some pictures.
