The March issue of the newsletter from the North East Weak Signal group
(NEWS), had a letter from Dave Olean/K1WHS describing some of the ice damage
in Maine from the storms in January. (he lost most of his antennas)
The story was particularly interesting because of the description of damage
to guy wires and guy grips (here's an excerpt):
"I talked to some tower workers rebuilding a broadcast installation over on
the next hill in Sanford ME (elev 625 ft). The tower had collapsed through
the roof of the equipment shack. Falling ice perferated the roof as well.
I measured a piece of ice laying there and it was a 4" radius around the
5/16" guy wire. This is after laying on the ground after two days of
melting. The guys (hams) recounted a tower north of here about 15 miles in
Shapleigh ME, 300' high, that had ice covering the guy wires 8-10" across.
The ice melted and slid down the guys, and when it did it unwrapped the
preformed guy grips and straightened out the strands on the wire. By some
miracle, the tower stood, but they had to replace all the guy wires. The
guy showed me some pictures to back up his story."
Hadn't ever heard of this kind of damage before.
73 Tom
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E-mail: frenaye@pcnet.com
Tom Frenaye, K1KI, P O Box 386, West Suffield CT 06093 Phone: 860-668-5444
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