[CQ-Contest] Ice Storm and Antennas

[Bob Shohet, KQ2M]

Hi John,

ICE STORMS SUCK!  We have already had THREE in the past month at my QTH in Western, CT.  I HATE them!

One occurred the week before CQWWCW and then we had an all-day ice fog!  Five days later, I spent more than an hour with a utility knife,
carving the ice off the elements, the element clamps and the boom of a 10 meter Yagi that I was rebuilding and mounting on the 
tower on the afternoon before the 10 meter contest.  The ice was so hard (the high temps had been mostly in the teens that week) that 
several of the razor blades broke!

Most well-built and well-supported antennas will survive up to about 1” of radial ice unless it is also windy, and 
when we occasionally get that awful combination, I have learned not to look at the antennas until afterwards.  

Heavy icing plus wind can often be fatal for antenna elements and un-guyed booms.  A foot or more of heavy wet snow is 
actually just as bad because the wet snow clings to the antenna and dramatically increases the surface area which then exponentially 
increases the weight from the ice-loading as the snow continues to fall and freezes on top of what is already there.  Unfortunately we get that
pretty often here.  Good Luck!

73
Bob KQ2M

Hope everyone's antennas are making it through the ice storm ok, or for those of you in the northeast, good luck with it hits. Here in Lawton, OK we have between 1/4 to 1/2 inch of ice on stuff. The MFJ 6 meter elements are sagging pretty good, but they are very flexible and will snap right back after the melting. The 2m beam looks ok so far. The streets are ok but a few tree branches are down as well.73 John AF5CC


Bob Shohet, KQ2M