On Mon, 18 Jan 2010 12:29:02 EST, cqtestk4xs@aol.com wrote:
>Trial and error is nice if you are putting up a wire antenna and it
falls
>down....no big deal. You're out a few bucks and some time.
>
>Tiral and error for a tower is a whole different deal...big bucks, and a
>possible loss of life...yours or an innocent neighbor's.
I'm with you, Bill. Engineering (essentially applied science) always wins
out. The value of experience added to the mix is that it reminds you of
factors that affect the design that you may not have considered.
>
>Another told me that guying to a tree was a very acceptable practice.
Depends on the tower and the tree. My tower is in a redwood forest full of
VERY big trees (150 ft tall, 6 ft diameter at the base typical), and can't
fall on any structure. It is on a yard of concrete, but guyed to trees,
each guy to a different tree, near the base. Carefully tensioned with a
Loos gauge. If the base of one of those trees moved, it would take down
guy wires that were in concrete or a soil anchor.
>I prefer to learn from other people's mistakes, not my own. Others like
>to learn the hard way.
It's the old story -- those who fail to learn from history are doomed to
repeat it. The same can be said for the engineering of towers and
antennas. Really bad conditions can happen anywhere, thanks to weather and
earthquakes. Towers and antennas not engineered for those conditions have
a good chance of ending up on the ground. When they do, some things can
get broken and people can get hurt or even killed. If that doesn't matter
to you, you're either insensitive or stupid.
73,
Jim K9YC
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