Yes, changing out the mast is a bit of work, but, especially for 40 
and 80 meter coverage, 38 feet would be somewhat better than 28 feet.

As for a telescoping mast slipping downward, they won't if they are 
installed properly. At least, not for a very long time anyway.

One thing you may want to consider if the mast you propose to use is 
metal, is to find an extension arm that is made of fiberglass or PVc 
to move the center feed point of the antenna either away from, or 
above the metal mast by a few feet. Just exactly how many feet is a 
subject of great debate, but as few as 2 feet will make a difference 
in both the tuning of the antenna, and in its performance.

Back to the is higher really worth it question, I'm having a 
discussion of that very subject with the guys who help me with 
antennas.

The center of my 80 meter inverted v is at 35 feet, and is about 3 
feet off the side of my tower. One leg of that antenna is almost 
completely over the roof of my house.

I am convinced that the same antenna will perform much better with the 
center at 50 feet in a tree that is about 20 feet behind the house. 
The real performance difference in this case will be in the receive 
mode, and will be caused primarily by the fact that none of the 
antenna is no longer close to my roof. I think I've almost convinced 
them to come over to do some tree shooting. I'll let you know the 
results when that happens.

All that said, if you can't keep the wires from crossing over your 
roof, go with what works in your situation.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John Vernaleken" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, January 31, 2012 5:01 PM
Subject: Masts


Throwing out another question to the group. I currently have a 10 foot
length of PVC attached to side of house which gives me a height of 
about 28
feet above ground to support the center of G5RV.
Any thoughts on pros and cons of replacing the PVC with  a telescoping 
mast
of 20 feet to gain additional 10 feet above ground. This would give 
me a
height of about 35- 37  feet to  top of V antenna setup..

Thanks

John  KC2QJB