Ok...I am gonna tell on myself....
I have ignored maintenance on the tower for about six months. And, that
just about got me into trouble last night.
I've been pretty busy with work and family (and keeping up with email) and
have not been doing a lot of hamming or working on the station.
Last night, I walked out to turn off the sprinkler and looked up at my
tower. (I look at towers no matter if they are in my backyard or not.) The
wind was blowing pretty hard which is not uncommon in Kansas. Acutally, the
name of the state is for the Kanza Indians which means "people of the
southwind."
Well, it was blowing pretty hard (about 25 to 35 MPH) and the old TA-33 (not
a long boom beam) was swinging a little in the wind...being held nicely by
the rebuilt Ham IV. I looked down the tower and I could see the torque
created by the beam actually twisting the tower! I have guys at 55 feet (60
foot tower) and at 35 feet with the old Rohn torque bars.
I ran over to one guy point and the guys were very, very, very loose.
Between Winter and Spring the guys had relaxed quite a bit because of the
tempurature change. I started cranking on the turnbuckles...to take up the
slack. AFter I tightened them all up, the twisting motion of the tower
could not be detected.
I just got to remember to check the tower every month. I hope you all are
doing the same...
Lee Buller
k0wa@southwind.net
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