On Wed, 06 May 1998 22:38:39 -0400 "Guy L. Olinger" <k2av@qsl.net>
writes:
>I wonder if Rohn deliberately designed this weak so that it would
>break
>before the twisting moment took down the tower?
>
>73, Guy.
>
Actually...the BX series of towers were designed by a gentleman named
Gene Cox. When I met Gene he lived in Dayton, IN, just outside of
Lafayette, and a few miles from Frankfort, IN where the towers were
actually fabricated for many years. They were designed as TV towers, and
were marketed under the name SPAULDING, both before, and after he sold
the company. I believe that the HDBX iteration did not come into being
until after he sold the tower. I do recall, over dinner one evening,
that Gene told me that he was worried when he saw so many of "his" towers
utilized by hams with big antennas. In fact, when he started out, there
were no TV antennas on the market as large as one I had on a BX-56 15
years ago. He specifically warned against guying such a tower in the
hope of handling longer booms...due to the fact that without guys the
twisting force could better be distributed throughout the entire height
of the tower...but if guyed he felt that failure would occur more
quickly.
I have said before that I believe it is a heck of a tower for the money.
But let's face it...hams often push their hardware to the limits...and
sometimes beyond. Let's not beat up on Rohn for continuing to sell a
very popular line of towers without re-engineering or re-designing
them...and warning users to not overload them.
73 -Dave- K9FN
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