End Caps, do you need them or don't you?
There are a number o things to consider about using element and boom end
caps.
Yes, a spider can bring down a tower. I've seen Aluminum towers badly
damaged and even brought down because a spider built a web in a leg.
Moisture collected on the web and then froze creating a plog as solid as
a mud dobber. Rain then built up and froze, splitting the leg causing it
to fail either then or later on when the weakened leg gave way when the
wind came up.
Bugs can create a plug in antenna elements, or booms that fail when they
can't drain.
I've put up antennas without end caps for years, but I've been lucky.
OTOH I had a whole stack badly damaged when a flock of Cormorants
decided to "overnight" on the boom truss of my 7L C3i 6-meter Yagi. They
broke the truss which dropped down on to to drivev element and boom of
the tri-bander, badly damaging it as well and preventing the turning of
the stack. It wore a large holr in the side of the boom. I have a
photo, if I can find it.
Of course there is the possibility of vibration induced metal fatigue
and element failure that anumber of hams have experienced.
73
Roger (K8RI)
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