What material for sky's mast

On that golden day in the not too distant future, when I finally receive my Air and Sky units, I plan on mounting the Sky on a 5’ furniture-grade PVC mast. I’ll likely heed the suggestion of filling the PVC pipe with sand to increase stability. My question is whether the Sky’s mounting collar will fit over a PVC cap for a 1" pipe (like this: https://tinyurl.com/y9lalqxs).

If I’m reading the specs correctly, the width on this cap is 1.594". Will the Sky’s adjustable collar accommodate the cap? If not, would the Sky unit itself serve to cap the sand-filled pipe?

@rjfox - I don’t think the Sky will fit over the cap as it barely fits over the suggested fence rail when the compression nut is removed first. I’d use a plug or caulk to close the top end.

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Please see Sky mounting pole diameter

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From the “what have I learned in life” collection, from trying to learn various trades as a challenge…

What is the difference between metal tubing and metal pipe? They are both round and have holes through them, but there is a big difference. Tubing is measured/specified by outside diameter, since it is intended to be used in structural applications. Pipe is measured/specified by inside diameter, since it is intended to carry gas/liquid inside it.

With that said, furniture-grade 1" PVC pipe is actually 1.315" outside diameter, which will be a snug fit if you just put the Sky’s pole mount over the pipe without a cap…

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Thanks for the info and the ultra-quick response, @WFmarketing.

Great idea, @d.dlane, a PVC plug like this one: https://tinyurl.com/yazxdfvs. With a little effort, I think I can Dremel the lip down to the 1.315" diameter that will work with the WF mount.

And thanks for the valuable lesson on the difference between tubing and pipe measurements, @vreihen. I’m sure that will come in handy down the road.

Cheers!

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Ok, here’s what I cobbled together for what I believe will be a strong means of mounting my Sky:
Mount2

For the mast, I ordered a 5’ length of furniture-grade 1” PVC pipe, which is attractive (high-gloss, no text printed on it) and UV-resistent: https://tinyurl.com/y755kk4m

For stability, I filled the mast with play sand (https://tinyurl.com/ybu9vxx2) and capped it with 3/4” PVC plugs (https://tinyurl.com/ya66dvpo). Note that 1” plugs did not fit into the 1” furniture-grade PVC pipe, I had to go with 3/4” plugs which fit very snugly. In fact, I had to gently pound them into position with a rubber mallet, which eliminated the need for PVC cement.
PVCplug

To mount the mast to my house, I wound up going with a bracket produced by Antenna Services Inc., Model #ASI-1-C (https://tinyurl.com/y7rk4x4l) It appears to be a very solid installation.
Mount1

TIPS:

• Cover the PVC plugs with a clean cloth before pounding them into position. The black rubber of my mallet left dirty marks on the white PVC.

• This 5’ mast takes very little sand to fill — maybe one or two cups. I barely used any of the 50 lb. bag I purchased. If you can confiscate some out of a nearby playground, you can save yourself a few bucks.

• Those of you in harsh-weather regions may want to cement the plugs into the mast. I didn’t bother as I didn’t want the purple primer/cement to mar the snow-white PVC. Being in Northern California, I doubt the kind of weather we get will knock the plugs loose anytime soon.

• If you order the bracket from Antenna Services Inc., call Michael up on the phone, don’t rely on email. He seems to be a nice guy, but I get the feeling this is a sideline for him, and emails seemed to get lost in the ether. His number is 954-491-8681.

Now, all I need is my WF weather station. Let’s hope the delay announced today is a brief one.

-Ray

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Thanks for sharing Ray!!

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I wish I found this post before I embarrassed myself going off topic in another forum. This is exactly the detailed information I was looking for. Thank you for sharing it.

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Happy to help. Glad some folks found the post useful.

Good luck with your installation! :slightly_smiling_face:

-Ray

I followed these guidelines and others to mount the Sky on the top a 3 meters PVC tube DN25 (outside diameter 32mm) from https://tinyurl.com/y9oblgcm.

Unfortunately, tied to the very bottom, I start to see the tube bending and the sky moving 5-10cms back and force in the wind, even so I filled the tube with sand all the way.

It is also possible that the hot weather, 40degres Celcius these days, make it a bit worse.

I wonder if anyone in Europe has found a better or more rigid fit. I see that the Furmufit is sold from amazon.co.uk, but they do not ship to mainland, and it is still 1.5metres max.

I was otherwise thinking to insert that first PVC tube into a larger one, DN32 or DN40. Maybe worth a test.

3 metres is way too long for pvc mast unless you reinforce it using a smaller diameter solid length internally . mine is 1.2 metres purchased at 1.5m i cut off a length to,reduce that top end bend and filled it with sand .

if you need it at 3 metres try using a 2metre alloy pole and cut and mount a 1.2 meter length using ubolts or drill 3 holes at good even space apart making it solidly fixed by bolting the 1.2 meter length to,alloy pole.

only thing i would do to save wasting existing pvc pole you purchased…brian

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image Don’t know if your mast is all set. Just wanted to let you know that I found a 10 foot vinyl wrapped laminate wood pole at Lowe’s for under $20 which is the perfect size at 1.3125 inches. Very sturdy and lightweight. No need for grounding or worrying about radio interference. Doesn’t need to be filled with sand and won’t deteriorate in the sun. Just another option to throw out there. image image image

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Ended up going with what you got. Seems like a good option. Now just waiting for the station.

You might consider a coat of UV resistant paint. The sun can damage or yellow many plastics.

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Sweet. Now let’s see some pictures .

I came up with the same solution (also bought at Lowes!). Mine’s attached to a vent pipe on my roof, using hose clamps. Lightweight, durable, and reasonably rigid. I do get occasional false reports of rain, but I don’t know if those are due to vibration or dragonflies landing on the Sky.

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I can attest to the problems with PVC. I filled it with sand, and the first two feet are secured to a post, but with 8 feet exposed it has a definite lean even in light wind.

TL;DR: Don’t buy a 10 foot PVC.

I’m looking at guy wiring it, but it might be a lot simpler (and maybe cheaper) to go with the vinyl wrapped closet rod. I look forward to hearing your experiences.

Would a 10 foot metal pipe work, or become a dangerous lightning rod?

Great , hope custums are not sleeping I think delivery is by DHL in the NL trackingcode is online there :sunglasses: I just ordered the lithium batteries firts looking to bol.dotcom I found cheaper over here https://www.batterijservice.nl/nl/lithium-15v/ I bought 6 - 2 packs total price including shipping € 19,93 I get them tommorow (the batteries) looking still for a pole for the Air

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I saw that website to yesterday.
Gonna order my batteries over there also.

I also need a pole for the Sky… Searching for an anodised aluminium pole … I think.

Do you have some good options?
They have some options @ weerstationkopen.nl

Citaat weerstationkopen
I was looking there also not sure about the diameter I think it should be 32mm ? Furthermore those pipes are expensive I was looking on warehousesites they sell these parts much cheaper but I cant find it online (by now)