New Carbon Fiber Mast for Ham Radio
Вставка
- Опубліковано 14 жов 2024
- Check out this New Carbon Fiber Mast from GigaDude! This mast was sent to me by myself for the purpose of an overview. Tell your favorite Content Creators you want them to review the GIGADUDE now!
As of 5/172023, the rest of the masts have arrived. Once feedback is acquired from other masts, this product will be available at shop.73qrz.com...
the normal price will be increased from the Beta cost currently seen on the website. at the moment, I'm working out to determine the cost.
Didn't see this was available on time to be a Beta Tester? Subscribe to the channel and turn on notifications to be alerted of future products which may need Beta testers.
Affiliate links, which means I make a commission off of some sales:
Guy Wire Clamp (this would be ideal for Aluminum masts) amzn.to/3Ik5VMe
South Bend Kwikstik (if you're looking for a small crappie rod) - amzn.to/41P5yA9
From the website:
What is it: a 25 foot carbon fiber mast which is collapsible to appx 70 inches. Each of the five sections clamps in to secure your mast at different heights.
Weight - Under 3 pounds (Appx 2.8lbs)
Clamps: Clamps allow you to adjust the amount of pressure each clamp provides to the mast. A word of caution, there is such thing as TOO much pressure, which may cause the plastic clamp to break.
Diameter: Top OD (Outer Diameter) is approximately 22mm and the bottom OD is approximately 34mm. The very bottom of the Bottom section has a screw on/off cover, which does increase the OD Size (size coming later). The cover is glued on and could most likely be removed if needed (but not recommended)
USE Perfect for Home use, portable/Parks on the Air use, Ham Radio Field Day events, JOTA (Jamboree on The Air), and other RACES/ARES type events. This mast is probably not hiking portable, although possible, it could be bulky.
Why so expensive? I Can get xxxx Carbon fiber mast for less than 100 bucks!?!!?: Most likely you are looking at a Carbon fiber crappie pole that does have multiple sections, no clamps, and a very flexible top section. These were designed for fishing and could work for simple wire operation. The GIGADude 25 has way less flexibility at the top of the mast, it's stronger, and more durable than a crappie rod.
This product has already been in a small BETA testing, and now is moving up to a larger BETA Market.
What comes with this mast, do you have a 34 foot version, a 50 foot version?, Why don't you sell xxxxxxx?: Thanks for supporting Ham Radio Dude. I currently am only offering a 25 foot mast, called the GIGADude. I invested what I could into the one size carbon fiber mast. This was a size I felt would be good for a vast variety of people. In all transparency, I didn't want to invest minimum orders in 25ft, 34ft, 50ft, 17 ft masts if there's no interest in them. It's a large investment and what happens here will help determine where the sales channel goes next.
Future models/versions I've considered:
12 ft (Kilo Dude) 17ft (MegaDude) , 34ft (TeraDude), 50ft (ZetaDude), 75ft (YottaDude), ????
What comes with this mast? Okay this is where it gets exciting, if you're still following. I've created Mast Toppers. These allow the mast operator to quickly install Hamsticks, Dipoles, EFHW's and more. The mast toppers being sent will be 3D printed. Max weight will most likely only support up to hamsticks. HOWEVER, you don't have to use the toppers. Additionally, there will be an update package available in the future to utilize these masts with a topper made with HEAVY DUTY nylon
Myself and a few other licensed hams have been testing these toppers for over a year. The Heavy duty nylon toppers have withstood 60mph winds, 1/2 telescoping dipoles for 20 meters, multiple falls and much more.
I MISSED the BETA Deal, can you please give me a discount!?! Do you offer bulk discounts?!: I cannot currently offer any additional deals, discounts, or giveaways for this product. Please understand, I have a lot invested in a concept which I don't know will work or not. As it is, I am attempting to keep the price on this product as low as possible.
... and thanks for supporting your SoCal content creator dude by rocking a shirt with his logo. 🤘😁👍
HAHA. I just saw this comment. Absolutely. It's my favorite shirt, honestly. I get 10dB gain every time I wear it and I become 8 times cooler. I especially love wearing it at hamfests up here and people ask if I am you. I say yes and go along with it. :D
Definitely want one for my ham sticks dipole and my Aredn dish when searching for signals
Dude, wish I was part of this beta test. LOL. Can’t wait to hear all the feedback. Now back to putting my new 3D printer to use. Keep Calm and Boldly Go. Live long and prosper. 73, K4HEF - Ham Radio Hef
Very nice. I am excited as well. I'm awaiting feedback as well. Good luck with your printer. I may add some files to thingiverse soon.
Just received mine this afternoon. A jewel, so strong and so light. It is replacing my 28ft heavy duty fiber glass mast that started pealing. Also it was always difficult to bring it down during thunderstorms or experimenting with different antennas, despite having a tilt base. The 3ft shorter didn't make a difference, in this case an inverted V dipole fed with a ladder line and an SGC ATU at the base. Thanks Sean, great product and a great job.
This is great, I'm glad to hear! Thank you!
I would love to add one of these for public safety comms
www.ebay.com/itm/355903492010?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=lqxz88ogqae&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=lqxz88ogqae&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
A tetrahedron of those carbon fiber masts could be put together with three 3D printed corner pieces that had holes for stakes and a top corner piece that could hold your mast to make very nice portable tripod. If the tetrahedron sides were 5 or 6 feet long they would fit inside of a lot of truck beds and car trunks.
Oh that's an interesting concept. Even if just certain elements of carbon fiber at certain lengths could be used, it may work with the parts. I am a slow thinker, so it took me a bit to respond, but I like the idea! Great thought! 73 !
Nice video description of your mast and I like the idea. Yes it is expensive but I like the strength of the carbon fiber mast and the ability to use it for various antennas. Keep us informed on when they come available.
I made a few available on the site, thanks!
Great video, dude! You explain this well! I'm glad i got mine already, you won't be able to keep these in stock when people realize the bargain they're getting!
You got that cooliooo Shirt on, Sean.😍 OMG look at this beautiful Dog. He stole the Show for sure. That Mast looks like "must have". I needed to share that one on my Facebook Page. Happy Thursday Dude, keep on rockin' & rollin'. 73 🙋♂
I LOL at the "my lawyer told me to say that."
Very cool, well thought out design, Dude. I really like the cam locks with the nice thumb screws for adjusting tension.
I see you're already out of stock as I type this. Will keep my eye out for when they're available.
Chuck is such a good boy!
I added stock! Chuck told me to
Nice. It looks like you have the top connector on yours. Mine are still holding up well. Hope to have a better picture of my setup soon.
Hey Sean, I got my stickers in the mail today and what a nice surprise to have a sticker with my call sign on it. Thanks for making my day man. KO4HPC 73
My pleasure bud. Hope you're enjoying ham radio, and the stickers. Thanks for all the support
What an awesome mast! Lots of thought gone into the different applications for it too. Well done!
As I was watching you show all of the topper attachments, I was thinking about my GoPro and all of the attachments it has for mounting and other features. And then it hit me. Come up with a topper that has a GoPro attach point built-in to make it easy to snap a GoPro on and off. Just a thought. Can’t wait to order one I’m totally in, both to support you and because that is a very cool product.
Thanks! I need to see what a GoPro mount looks like (standard). I did end up taking a bicycle handlebar GoPro mount and placing it on the top tube. That works well too. I feel confident with these and released a small batch to shop.hamradiodude.com . Thanks for the idea, I will look at the go pro mount later and see how it could be incorporated
Well, as promised, I grabbed one just now. And a beanie too! A great gift for a friend. Any way you can jam it into the box with the mast to save the $5 hat shipping? (Cheap ham lol). Seriously tho…. Can’t wait to get it and play out some ideas for ham and non-ham projects. Have a great weekend. Hope you made it to Dayton. -Tom
@@HowToHam_Tom Hey thanks! I cannot because the hats are made in a different location. However, I'll make it up to you with something extra in your mast box. Thank you for the support and I'm looking forward to hearing your input and thoughts..
No prob at all! I don’t know if you’re drop-shipping or shipping from Dude HQ, but don’t rush to get it out. If you’re busy. I don’t need it at the speed of Amazon. Thanks again for what you do for us all.
I like the idea but need a higher for portable. I would like an endfed and a VHF / UHF yagi. Adapters do help, and I understand that cost.
Dude, I agree with the other commenters. Well done video. No punches pulled. Said it like it is! BTW, since "Chuck" has appeared on screen, he should be paid at full Hollywood actor scale. Grin. Looking forward to receiving my 2 GIGAdudes! Best wishes for this and your other ventures to be successful.
He gets paid in cookies lol. Should have the decals tomorrow and have the masts shipped by evening or no later than Friday morning! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!
I actually got the 34 ft carbon fiber mask from gig aparts with the tripod and I use three guy wires of paracord and it easily holds up the MFJ2289 big ear dipole antenna which is about 6 lb fully extended so it works fantastic on 6 m through 40 m for 1.2 kW I've also had my Mosley 32A mini tribander two elements that antenna weighs less than 10 lb no rotor ( just an Armstrong rotor ) at 25 ft with the tripod and two sets of three paracord guy wires held up to a breezy afternoon had a lot of fun I live in a homeowner's association so I kind of have to take my antenna down every night and the carbon fiber is a great solution My age is almost 60 so it's tough to take a steel push-up hole in and out of the garage which weighs about 60 lb The carbon fiber weighs less than 6 and I can assemble it in less than 15 minutes with the MFJ big ears with the two element beam it takes me about an hour.
Looking forward to getting one eventually. I’m just getting started in this hobby and doing my research on certain items. The “GIGADUDE” is what I’m looking for. Hopefully I’ll get the “dude” sooner rather than later. Good luck to you. I think that you will have a hard time keeping them in stock because it will be a much wanted item.
Do you have plans to ship to the UK, just tried ordering from your Beta Test shop, only option was to ship to US?
Interesting. Let me see if I can set up a International shipping rule in the shopping app (on Tuesday). I would assume shipping will be high though as it's a relatively big box. But yes, I would be willing! Thanks for brining that up.
Can a carbon fiber mast be used in a semi-permanent or permanent antenna installation? How will it hold up in the South Florida sun?
I like the topper features on this. I have the DX Engineering 50' (actually 49 I guess DXE-TCFP-49) mast I am pleased with. Pricey to be sure but you can always make it shorter just not longer right? I got the oversized tripod for it as well. In any case, by the time you buy it, the tripod and guying solutions you're over $1K all in so they aren't for everyone when you consider the alternatives. I'm not one to ridicule companies over pricing though, you truly get what you pay for.
Thanks! I'd be curious, do you know the inner diameter of the top section of that 50 ft (49 ft) mast? I will have to check it out. I agree, accessories start to get expensive. I have to think creatively sometimes for some sort of solution.
Have you given one to Whistlindiesel for durability tesing?
Doing Ham Radio living on SS disability isn't easy. What is it going to cost? I can not make my radios but making as much of the things as I can. I get ideas from the many videos I watch. Thank you for helping give ideas! 73 W4DES
Very nice!
Pole Vaulting. Hilarious.
You sold me. Can't wait until you can market.
Paul K1YOU
Thank you!
@HAM RADIO DUDE Any way you can let me know when available will be??
Paul K1YOU
@@paulaubuchon2336 I posted some for sale on the website in the description. Thanks!
@@HAMRADIODUDE Thanks
Do you think these are OK for a "permanent" installation to support wire antennas? Some vendors of these types of masts caution against it, and others say it's fine.
I'd be curious why they said they can't be used permanently. Fiberglass , sure. Carbon Fiber should be good. A guy in the comments "the happy ham" has had his mounted outside for a while now, permanently, with no issue. I wouldn't have any reservations. Thanks
@@HAMRADIODUDE Yeah. I'm going to try it. If you read the manual for the Gigaparts masts (I can't post the link because UA-cam will block the comment) it says:
"3. It is not recommended to use Explorer Telescoping
Masts for any sort of permanent installation. Explorer
Telescoping Masts are designed to be used in a portable,
temporary fashion and as such are not rated for permanent
installation of any kind."
My biggest concern would be degradation from UV. My suspicion would be that the material would last years in the sun, and if you truly had a permanent install, a coat of paint might be a wise option to help protect it from the sun.
@@K6ARK Thanks, Adam. I think I'll take my chances. Despite the expense, a Carbon Fiber mast would solve a lot of issues. I have a huge rooftop about 20' high on a 100'x100' commercial building and getting another 20' above roof level would be nice. And if the pole should collapse in 5 years, it won't hurt anything unlike a steel mast. (I'd guy the mast, of course.)
Thank you Adam.
Lots of people are making carbon fiber masts (and I have a few), but no one is making carbon fiber tripods. Can you make us a carbon fiber tripod that fits everyone’s carbon fiber masts? Better yet, can you make one with a mastwerks rotation system?
The Gigaparts tripods that mate with the Gigaparts carbon fiber masts are way too heavy, esp after spending a fortune on the mast.
73, N2YTF
Hopefully I can get there one day. I mentioned in one of these videos though that I had to choose just one product and as I continue (If this does well), I will introduce new products. I just don't have the funding to venture into multiple things, yet. But I will keep it in mind. Thanks
What is the OD of largest section of mast? Already have a fence post installed in my yard already.
Huh, I thought I mentioned it. 39mm at the largest point (the cap on the bottom), 34mm on the mast. Thanks!
So does carbon fiber affect RF? Since it conducts (carbon), will it affect an antenna pattern, say an EFHW run up the pole? I now favor FG, (for price and insulation), but would like CF for its strength.
I thought I mentioned in the video, I still have to test it, but have not had issues with the efhw sloped away from the mast, or a dipole on the top. I will test more next week and try to get some charts.
The only time it will really have an impact is if your wire runs relatively close to the CF mast for more than a foot or so. For example, I wouldn't fun a vertical up along the mast. But for slopers, inverted V, dipoles, verticals, yagis, etc., CF works great and saves weight.
Dude, are you still selling this mast? The link in the description doesn't seem to work.
I have a few left, but I am selling locally only (Northern Illinois, can bring to Hamvention etc). Unfortunately, shipping rates increased, the boxes were really poor quality etc. If you are going to be at Hamvention or in the Illinois area, let me know.
AIOC boards running again? Thanks!
They're on order, check my community posts or the website for availability. I would think a couple more weeks. Thanks
No longer available?
Unfortunately not. I didn't have near the amount of buyers I needed to purchase any more. If you're located around Northern Illinois, I can arrange for pickup of an extra one I have. Otherwise, This project died.
@@HAMRADIODUDE Not in the area, however my buddy is and I will see him in a few months, what are you asking for it?
www.ebay.com/itm/355903492010?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=lqxz88ogqae&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=lqxz88ogqae&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
How do I contact you?
I just sent you an email. Cheers.