3rd Gen Power Antennae problems...quick fix

As with most everyone else, I've had problems with my mast staying up on my power antennae. So first off I buy a new power mast. It works for a couple weeks and then kicks the bucket. So I call the guy that put the new one on and I tell him that I want to go with the standard fixed mast. We talked for awhile and he tells me the following.

You can go and turn on the radio and then do the following. Remove the three screws that hold the thin plastic fender shield just in front of the antennae motor. There is a quick disconnect plug mounted on the inside fender wall. If you leave the radio on and then disconnect the plug the antennae will be in the "active mode" and will stay up. I did exactly as he said and guess what, it fell back down. The purpose was to have the gear hold the mast up so that it stayed there when the motor was shut off. So off to Plan B.

I got to thinking. If I could just get the mast to stay up somehow the radio would operate just fine and the motor wouldn't be trying to put it up and down constantly. So I got out my tube of Superglue and went to work. I started by pulling the top section up and putting some glue all around the seam. The problem is that even though there is a small gap between sections it was just enough to let it slide back down. So here is what I did.

I took a pair of pliers and just barely squeezed the bigger section of metal mast. Just enough to make some good contact with the smaller section. Then I applied the Superglue. I did this to all the sections and it has held fine in wind and rain. How long it will last I have no idea, but the antennae motor is inactive, I didn't have to buy a new mast and I didn't have to thread a new wire from the mast over to the radio (which is what you would have to do if you go to a permanent mast). That was a week ago and it's still holding on. Hope this helps someone out there.