A guyed mast is a tall thin vertical structure that receives support from guy lines.
Guyed masts are frequently used for radio masts. The mast can either support aerials (for VHF and UHF) mounted at its top, or the entire structure itself can function as an antenna (for VLF, LF, MF and HF); this is called a mast radiator. In the latter case, the mast needs to be insulated from the ground. They can also be used to support all types of wire aerials (for VLF, LF, MF and HF).
Sailing masts, the masts that support the sails on sailboats, are very typically guyed masts.
Guyed masts can also be used as the tops of free standing towers. A famous tower of this type is the Gerbrandy Tower.
Guyed masts are sometimes also used for meteorological measurements at certain heights above ground level. Sometimes they are used as pylons, although their usage in agricultural areas is problematic because anchor foundations handicaps ploughing. A very special use is the BREN Tower.
Famous quotes containing the word mast:
“To coöperate in the highest as well as the lowest sense, means to get our living together. I heard it proposed lately that two young men should travel together over the world, the one without money, earning his means as he went, before the mast and behind the plow, the other carrying a bill of exchange in his pocket. It was easy to see that they could not long be companions or coöperate, since one would not operate at all. They would part at the first interesting crisis in their adventures.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)