I appreciate you taking the time to do investigate possible and potential issues reported on the spike. Its good to see engineering updates regarding the product. Thanks for the video. Good job Dude!
One thought I have regarding putting the spike in the ground - why not leave it attached to the 'top' if pounding is necessary. Then you can unscrew the top and screw on the mast holder. I think that would be less stress on the mast threads - perhaps more on the threads inside the top. Just a thought...
Texas soil varies. Some are like Louisiana "gumbo" soil (clay and mud), some caliche, some are a clay/loam like my area. Anything with clay will turn into rock when it dries out. I recently went to a non-POTA park here and had to hammer pretty hard to get a spike in the ground. And it has been pretty dry in central Texas the last few weeks.
Have you thought about making the spike like an old fashioned (really really old fashioned) bayonet? The handle of the bayonet would plug the barrel of the musket. That gave it a lot of lateral support and there was no need to thread it in since it was a friction fit. Also making the PVC pipe a little shorter will make it harder to break the threaded joint.
Hey HRD long time no talk buddy. A few questions. One why do you need the threading on the spike at all? why not just have a slip in connection? that would eliminate the stresses on the threading, and tooling needed on the spike itself. The other have you considered manufacturing your own spikes? once you get the profile that works. the molding of those spikes would be hard all you would need is a foundry that gets up to 1500 F and enough material and lately I've been dumpster diving for mine. Next week ill be melting down an old TV antenna someone took off of their house i just grabbed of the curb. that being said if you need to mass produce those that might be a different story but its a thought.
Agreed, eliminate the threads and you'll eliminate the vast majority of potential failure points. A more horizontal clamping, like the trucker mirror mounts, should transfer the stress.
Thanks for being so creative and humble. Do you know if a ‘maker’ has created a bracket for mounting the DC power monitors. Mine is usually backward and/or unreadable. Keep up the good work. KD6FOV
Realistically you could use the end that holds the spike inside the tube as the part you hit to insert it into the ground. That way instead of using the entire thing and having all that leverage with every hit to possibly bend and snap the end it’s just spike and mallet pad. And once it’s in the ground you just unscrew the cap and screw on the pipe! If that made any sense.
Also, the cap that holds the spike in the tube could be a slip fit onto the spike to cut down on injection molding cost for the multiple different ID threads and less likely to be damaged during the pounding into the ground stage.
I appreciate you taking the time to do investigate possible and potential issues reported on the spike. Its good to see engineering updates regarding the product. Thanks for the video. Good job Dude!
Lastly, Thank you for taking constructive feedback and evolving the spike.
sorry you aren’t feeling well. May you have a speedy and complete healing.
Nice video!
One thought I have regarding putting the spike in the ground - why not leave it attached to the 'top' if pounding is necessary. Then you can unscrew the top and screw on the mast holder. I think that would be less stress on the mast threads - perhaps more on the threads inside the top. Just a thought...
Texas soil varies. Some are like Louisiana "gumbo" soil (clay and mud), some caliche, some are a clay/loam like my area. Anything with clay will turn into rock when it dries out.
I recently went to a non-POTA park here and had to hammer pretty hard to get a spike in the ground. And it has been pretty dry in central Texas the last few weeks.
Have you thought about making the spike like an old fashioned (really really old fashioned) bayonet? The handle of the bayonet would plug the barrel of the musket. That gave it a lot of lateral support and there was no need to thread it in since it was a friction fit. Also making the PVC pipe a little shorter will make it harder to break the threaded joint.
Keep you eye on the quality and you can't go wrong! Thanks for the video Dude! 73
Hey HRD long time no talk buddy. A few questions. One why do you need the threading on the spike at all? why not just have a slip in connection? that would eliminate the stresses on the threading, and tooling needed on the spike itself. The other have you considered manufacturing your own spikes? once you get the profile that works. the molding of those spikes would be hard all you would need is a foundry that gets up to 1500 F and enough material and lately I've been dumpster diving for mine. Next week ill be melting down an old TV antenna someone took off of their house i just grabbed of the curb. that being said if you need to mass produce those that might be a different story but its a thought.
Agreed, eliminate the threads and you'll eliminate the vast majority of potential failure points. A more horizontal clamping, like the trucker mirror mounts, should transfer the stress.
Glad to be a beta tester if you need one.
Thanks for being so creative and humble. Do you know if a ‘maker’ has created a bracket for mounting the DC power monitors. Mine is usually backward and/or unreadable. Keep up the good work. KD6FOV
Realistically you could use the end that holds the spike inside the tube as the part you hit to insert it into the ground. That way instead of using the entire thing and having all that leverage with every hit to possibly bend and snap the end it’s just spike and mallet pad. And once it’s in the ground you just unscrew the cap and screw on the pipe! If that made any sense.
Also, the cap that holds the spike in the tube could be a slip fit onto the spike to cut down on injection molding cost for the multiple different ID threads and less likely to be damaged during the pounding into the ground stage.
Steel instead of aluminum? Heavier but sturdier
sorry you aren’t feeling well. May you have a speedy and complete healing.
Steel instead of aluminum? Heavier but sturdier