Anyone got a link? And a transducer holder.

Sam, we discussed a while back... here is a link to that discussion: Extension Pole Discussion

Some detailed pictures of the one I made and use are at: Rusty's Extension Pole and Holder

You can make the holder up for around $25 using stuff from Lowe's or Home Depot. The pole will be more expensive, but is available in a number of lengths. The Wooster GT poles allow you to quickly change poles without having to unscrew anything. The clamp that holds the accel is just a conduit clamp and comes in 1/4" increments. For odd size accels, I'd wrap some rubber splicing tape around the accel for a snug fit.

This company sells an extension pole:

http://spectrum-instruments.com/products/vibration/sens..._collector_acc.shtml

but they are not cheap (around $500).

I make them out of 1" pvc conduit for about $3 and leave them where ever I need them.

Yet another link PorterMax Extension Poles....but I like Rusty's idea...

The commercial poles have a limited "angle of attack". My pole has a spring loaded, toothed joint which allows you to change the angle of attach just my pushing it against something. Also, once you get it attached (I use the biggest magnet that will fit into the area I'm checking), the joint is fairly flexible and effectively isolates the pole from the accelerometer. This thing really works.

I started off with the PVC that Danny mentions, and it works well, but I found it not quite flexible enough, so went on to something a bit more complicated, but still inexpensive.

Thanks to all. I appreciate your help.

If I was going to make one to carry around on a route with me, I would do like a friend who works at a large manufacturing plant and has virtually unlimited resources. He started out like many do with an extendable paint pole, he made (being a machinist is another big helper in this) a really nice quick release swivel clamp and ordered a long coiled cable. He made bushings for the ends and put the coiled cable inside the pole. I didn't like the fact that you couldn't rest the pole after releasing the accel, so he was considering adding a loop that would allow you to rest the pole. I don't know if he did it or not because of safety concerns. That was the whole reason for putting the cable inside the pole.

Interesting.... how would you 'release' the accel, and the reattach it, from 15 ft. away?

With a home made device similar to a pneumatic quick release coupling. (Please refer to the part about virtually unlimited resources ) I'll see if I can get him to post some photos.

I like the way yours swivels. With the cheapy like I use, I just use the friction between the two pieces and a nylon locknut.

Can you release the accel after mounting it?

No, you can't 'release' the accel. But the toothed, swivel joint is pretty flexible by virtue of the spring. You can vary the tension in the jont by varying the strength of the spring used, and by how much you compress the spring with the wing nut.

I found a similar design that works well at WWW.extendedsolutionsllc.com

I crafted this extension using a thin walled steel tube house brush pole. It extends out to about 8 foot is very light the accelerometer cable runs down the middle. The rare earth magnet swivels to any angle. The only issues I have had is reaching around things at a distance. So I may add a right angle extender later.

extension_pole.doc (778 Kb, 33 downloads)