Drive on mast holders

My first iteration was a homebrew version that I made out of two oak planks way back in 2013.

The two planks were joined by a couple of hinges so I could fold it flat and my Jackite pole was held in place by two U-bolts. It worked, but was heavy, bulky and took up a lot of space in the trunk. It was kludgy at best. One time I lost a wingnut and had to go out and by a few spares.

I really wanted something lighter, smaller and a bit easier to deal with. A couple of years ago, after a search on Amazon, I found this one.

It was lighter, smaller and took up less space in the trunk, Ideal ....... right? As it turned out thr Jackite pole is literally 1 or 2 millimeters too wide and will not fit in the support tube. I used it with the Shakespeare crappie pole that I have, but I really like the Jackite as it's 10 feet taller.

So I started searching Amazon and eBay to see what I could find. I found a really nice mast holder on eBay marketed by Three Mosquitoes Gear right here in New Jersey. The price was $100 though, and that's a bit rich for my wallet.

Finally, Captain Obvious came up with a solution. Use  piece of 2" PVC and a couple of hose clamps and viola!

Without spending any more money and using stuff I already had, I now have the mast holder for  my Jackite that I always wanted!  Took me long enough to figure it out, didn't it? I'm sure most of you out there would have had this lashed up months ago. Once again, W2LJ is slow on the uptake. I can think out of the box too, it just takes me more time.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!