Yesterday I discovered that the three ceramic "Johnny-ball" insulators that
isolate my bottom guy-set from the tower are all broken. They have been up
8 years and are the only strain insulators left on the tower. One has lost
all the ceramic on the top side except for the little bit that separates
the two guy wires, while the other two have lost parts of the
non-load-bearing "ears" on either side of the guy wire channels. The lower
sides of all three (toward the guy anchors) are apparently intact
Even the worst doesn't look like an imminent failure, and even if it did,
the guy wires will take the strain directly, though of course I would lose
the use of the tower for shunt feed on 160. But I'm really curious what
would cause such a failure, and if there's anything to do to prevent a
recurrence. I have plenty more of the insulators, and the replacement
doesn't look hard, but it just bothers me not understanding what
happened. The climate here isn't THAT extreme -- last winter was pretty
snowy, but we had only a few days near zero, and this summer didn't break
100 -- and there are no known unusual atmospheric contaminants, other than
farmland manure once or twice a year, so I'm stumped.
73, Pete N4ZR
The World HF Contest Station Database was updated October 3.
2440 stations are listed -- 104 stations were added or updated.
Are you current? www.pvrc.org/wcsd/wcsdsearch.htm
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See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless Weather Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any questions and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
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