On my surplus portable mast, I replaced the 1/8" cable with bigger stuff,
as I put a KT34XA on it as a somewhat "permanent" installation. I then used
the Loos to tension it. The military method does work fine on that mast, but
remember that the masts are for "temporary" use (although they don't define
"temporary" and when I was in the service, I saw many that had been up for
extended periods). Made me feel a lot better (my paranoia showing again, hi).
73, Mike K3AIR
In a message dated 99-08-21 12:39:50 EDT, you write:
<<
But what about measuring tension on types of cable for which the Loos is not
designed? My new AB-577/GRC military surplus portable mast has three sets of
1/8" stainless steel guys. The installation instructions simply say to "make
sure the mast is vertical and the guys are taut". I ended up tensioning the
guys so that there was no visible slack, there was some (but not a lot) of
"tightness", and the mast didn't move when a guy was grabbed and shaken
vigorously. The guy tension adjusters (called "snubbers") have a sort of
self-limiting feature -- they're designed to be tensioned by hand and
there's only so far you can turn them.
The mast looks quite sturdy in a 35MPH wind, and I'm sure the guys are not
so tight as to risk their breakage or compression damage to the mast. I
tried to make the tension as equal as possible, but it's hard to know. Does
anyone know of any measureing devices or "rules of thumb I can use to set my
mind at ease about this.
73, Dick WC1M
>>
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