Falling tower question

[David L. Zeph]

Straight line winds once blew over my 95" self-supporting tower.  All =
three legs bent a foot above the concrete.  It was laid out perfectly =
flat along the ground when I arrived back from vacation!

Fortunately the winds were nearly parallel to the south face of the =
house.  With 5  6-element 10M and 15M yagis attached, it was quite a =
mess, but could have been worse.

BTW, the 3/16"-wall chrome-moly mast was only slightly bent from the =
fall and impact.   A friend straightened it with a hydraulic press and =
it's currently in use with my log-periodic.

73 ---> Dave, W9ZRX
(zephd@iquest.net)

----------
From:  Scott Neader[SMTP:neader@QTH.com]
Sent:  16 October 1996 01:21
To:  towertalk@contesting.com
Cc:  K7LXC@aol.com
Subject:  Falling tower question

>>       If I should ever lose a top guy wire or its anchor, should I =
expect
>>to have the tower collapse instead of bending?

>      Interesting question.  According to the information that I've =
seen, a
>guyed tower will fall typically within a circle around its base =
approximately
>30% of its height.  It doesn't "fall over" because it is constrained, =
or
>tethered, by the remaining guy wires.  Talk about a pile of scrap...
>
>    BTW, this probably shoots the heck out of tower building set-back
>regulations.

So, what happens to a self-supporting tower when it decides to fall?  =
Does
it typically stay within that 30% of height... or will my future tower =
hit
my neighbor's house?   (just planning my answers when the neighbors =
start
asking once I do choose a tower and put it up)

- Scott KA9FOX

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