Yesterday I posted my story about my beam coming loose from the mast and
rotating. Here's a little follow up.
Today I went up the mast intending to insert a pin through wherever it
came loose. The antenna has been up just short of three years. I had
forgotten that it already had a pin in it and much to my surprise, when
I got up there I found the pin had sheared clear off. This was a 3/8
inch bolt, not some wimpy little thing. Apparently the constant rocking
back and forth had ground it down on both sides and the ends just fell
off. What was left of the bolt was clearly visible inside the mast,
barely hanging on. Naturally, for this to happen, the main
rotator-to-mast bolts had come loose too, about one full turn. The
whole thing was just free as a bird!!
No one could have been more surprised than me.
Tomorrow, I'm going back up with some Loctite and do it the way it
should have been done in the first place. A tower expert whom I respect
told me years ago not to pin masts - now I know why.
The old dog learns a new trick. You can too. :-)
73, Bill W7TI
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