Towertalk
[Top] [All Lists]

[TowerTalk] Boom Splice Strength

To: towertalk@contesting.com
Subject: [TowerTalk] Boom Splice Strength
From: ac9s@mchsi.com
Date: Tue, 11 Dec 2007 17:18:38 +0000
List-post: <mailto:towertalk@contesting.com>
I am sitting in the middle of our big midwest ice storm wondering if my new 
Steppir is going to succumb to the same fate as my Bencher Skyhawk during last 
year's ice storm.  I just re-read Dave Leeson's article on strengthning the 
402-CD and wonder if the current practice of using internal doublers butted 
together to strengthen booms is a sound practice.  I am obviously not an 
engineer, but it seems to me that where two internal doublers butt together 
the effective strength of the joint is that of the single overlying boom 
material.  That would seem to be born out by Dave Leeson's article where all 
butted joints are overlapped with two sections of tubing.

Example - the Skyhawk's boom is composed of 4 - six foot, 2 inch sections 
pinned together with underlying doublers which are 1 7/8ths diameter.  The 
middle section is double wall and the next two single wall.  During last 
year's ice storm the boom failed three feet out from the mast - right in the 
middle of the first boom section on the director side, RIGHT AT THE POINT 
WHERE THE INTERNAL DOUBLERS BUTT TOGETHER.  

Since the middle doubler is double wall the claim is that the boom tapers from 
triple wall, to  double wall,to single wall thicknesss at the outboard three 
feet of the boom.  I think the boom is effectively double wall at the center 
section ( the double wall thickness of the center doubler), triple wall for 
the next three feet, single wall at the point of the first internal butt, 
double wall for the length of the outboard doublers and single boom thickness 
at the tips.

The new Steppir (3 el) only has a 1 3/4" boom pinned together with internal 1 
5/8" splices.  Wouldn't the effective strength of the boom only be that of the 
1 5/8" splices where the boom sections butt together?  I know the 3 el is a 
real short boom, but right now it has a real nifty droop!

I think strength is proportionate to tubing diameter (at least that is what 
the bicycling community claims) so if for cost reasons single wall butt joints 
can't be avoided, wouldn't it be better to have larger diameter splices on the 
outside of the boom, rather than prettier internal ones? 

I am not sure how boom to mast plates affect this.  With both antennas the 
boom is butted together in the center and might be effectively doubled by the 
u-bolts of boom to mast.  

If nothing else, I am convinced we ought to employ boom trusses when we live 
in ice and wind country.

By the way I posted earlier on element rotation and took the collective advice 
to pin the boom to the boom to mast plate.  So far the antennas elements are 
all still horizontal despite some pretty hefty (cannot be symetric) loads.  
Thanks for the good advice!!

Keith
AC9S
_______________________________________________



_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk

<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
  • [TowerTalk] Boom Splice Strength, ac9s <=