Many thanks to Charles (KW6G) who writes:
Thomas:
I purchased an MC-750 from DXE last week…It arrived Monday….Great antenna; very nice workmanship….I have not yet deployed it, but that will be in the near future….
After reading your emails/posts and viewing the videos, I got to thinking…The real oversight in this antenna design is the fact that the manufacturer has provided no protection for the tip of the ground spike….I can see where it would not be long until it worked its way through one of the ends of the carrying pouch…
So with this in mind, I went off to the hardware store where I found a 3/8″ ID X 1 inch long nylon spacer which fit over the end of the spike perfectly — problem solved for all of 58 cents…
Here are a couple photos:
73’s de Charles, KW6G
What a great, affordable solution! Thank you for sharing this, Charles!
Good idea. I keep an assortment of those in my hardware junk box. Various sizes that I have found. Not sure where they all came from but sometimes they show up on things we buy and i confiscate them. They are also great for protecting threads and the. Ends of bolts so that they don’t scratch you up.
What do you put on the other end in case you need to whack it with a mallet to put it in the ground?
It’s like concrete here.
I use a cork that I got from an arts and crafts store
You could also use a short piece of flexible rubber hose. I see that used a lot on gaffe hooks in boats.