Heath Outdoor Products 15 Foot Telescoping Galvanized Steel Purple Martin House Pole

Comment: As a weather watcher, I depend on the most accurate ways to get weather data. I have been wanting to find a way to get my weather station higher. I found this 15 Ft telescoping pole at our local Lowes. This thing is pretty nice. Before I used to have to haul out the latter for battery changes, and maintenence. This pole being 15 Ft along with the 5.5 Ft the station already has, puts it at 20.5 Ft. Now the thing is, this pole is extreamly strong. We have already experienced some powerfull wind gusts. This pole doesn't even wobble, and the key lock system is well thought out. You might have to mark the maximum extend with a sharpy, or else you might end up pulling it out. Easy to install and easy to maintain. I wish I had done it years ago. Highly recommended for most uses.

Comment: The pole is great, but, the locking system is a joke. Be prepared to drill and pin the sections.

Comment: This is a great design with one little flaw. 4 telescoping tubes that make lowering the bird house/condo a snap. Easy to install. very strong. Not a chance this would not withstand high winds - It's already seen 40mph+ here without a problem. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was b/c the locking mechanism isn't working properly on one of the sections. It uses a 'key' that gets jammed between the two sections and locks the pole into place, except that on one section the key slot was malformed so it a high wind, it worked its way loose due to the swaying. Rather than deal with returns etc, I simply drilled a hole all the way thru and put a pin to hold the position. Now that section works perfectly and is just as easy to use as the key.

Comment: I only just put the telescoping pole in the ground last night. Installation was simple enough and the pole seems sturdy. However, I cannot figure out the purpose of the black ground socket piece. Is that portion supposed to be in the ground? What the heck is it
for exactly? Instructions were not clear...If anyone can help me out on this, it would be greatly appreciated.

Comment: When I clicked on the purple martin house to purchase it from Amazon a picture of the telescoping pole came up. It was suggested that this pole would be a great combination with the martin house I was buying. When it was time to put everything together we realized that the opening for the pole was triangle shape and the pole was round. My husband figured out a way to make it work. He wasn't pleased with the way the poles were to be connected. He thought that it had a poor design. The martin house and the pole have only been up for a few weeks but they have both withstood some heavy winds. Only time will tell if this will hold up due to the fact that this isn't the proper pole for our martin house.