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[TowerTalk] sheared bolts

To: <towertalk@contesting.com>
Subject: [TowerTalk] sheared bolts
From: gbay@odi.com (gbay)
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1999 17:37:26 -0500
Bummer.  I put up a TH-11DX antenna this fall and have been having a ball
with it...it's terrific.  Unfortunately, we had a bit of a storm this
weekend with winds gusting into the low 40's.  The load on the rotator
sheared three of its bolts off.  The antenna was sitting on a retracted
crank-up tower and the rotator is a Ham-IV.  According to the specs, it
should be able to handle this wind loading.  Sooo...I have the following
questions that, perhaps, someone can help me with.

    1.  Is the Ham-IV, indeed, strong enough to handle this antenna?
    2.  Shouldn't these bolts have been strong enough to hold up?  For
whatever it's worth, they have held OK for 9 years while I had my KT-34A up.
The only thing I can think of is that maybe they loosened up and then
sheared.
    3.  Any idea as to how to back out the sheared-off bolts?  They are not
sticking out of the holes.

Thanks for any help you can give.

Gerry, W1XY


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