From:
Fred Hopengarten, K1VR
Six Willarch Road * Lincoln, MA 01773-5105 * 617/259-0088
e-mail: k1vr@juno.com or k1vr@k1vr.jjm.com
Big antennas, high in the sky, are better than small ones, low.
On Fri, 7 Feb 1997 14:57:12 -0800 (PST) [a towertalkian] writes:
> Certainly there are guys who know this stuff [on how to do
calculations]
>and
>some of them are no doubt listening to all of this. They are probably
>professional engineers who spent a significant part of their life
>learning
>this stuff the hard way and are not about to give it away for free.
>Even if
>they are willing to give it away for free, they incur some liability
>for
>what they say and it just isn't smart to take such risks without
>compensation.
K1VR: Each time this thought jumps up, I try to tamp it back down. A
friend or acquaintance, e-mail correspondent, columnist, or software
writer incurs no liability to a third party injured by a tower failure by
reason of having provided engineering formulas, software, books, articles
or spreadsheets. A professional engineer may freely convey formulas and
techniques and sleep well at night.
I offer this opinion, and claim it to be a statement of the law, to the
entire internet without fear of being sued.
Having said that, the game changes when a PE is engaged by a specific
client and seals a specific drawing. With one exception (and the facts
were special), I have never regretted spending money on architects,
professional engineers, lawyers (even though I am one), CPA's,
physicians, teachers and others trained in the learned arts. I have
always found my money to be well spent, as the downside risk was simply
too great, and life is too short.
As a friend of mine who is a litigator says: "You do anything a whole
lot and you get good at it."
Respectfully submitted,
Fred Hopengarten, J.D. K1VR
ARRL Volunteer Counsel
--
FAQ on WWW: http://www.contesting.com/towertalkfaq.html
Submissions: towertalk@contesting.com
Administrative requests: towertalk-REQUEST@contesting.com
Problems: K7LXC@contesting.com
Sponsored by Akorn Access, Inc & N4VJ / K4AAA
|