[TowerTalk] All-thread U-bolts?

Ian White, G3SEK G3SEK@ifwtech.demon.co.uk
Fri, 28 Aug 1998 07:48:26 +0100


A friend whose engineering company has a U-bolt bender suggested that a
solution to the problem of U-bolt slippage is to bend the whole U-bolt
out of threaded stock. 

Even at moderate tightness, the threads around the curve bite into the
surface of the boom without crushing it, and these bolts have certainly
cured the slippage problem on his array. 

This can't possibly be a new idea - it must be almost as old as the U-
bolt itself. Any comments on advantages/disadvantages, please?
 
First thought is that the whole length of an all-thread U-bolt would be
weaker because the thickness is reduced and the thread groove also acts
as a stress raiser... but that is also true of the threaded part of a
conventional U-bolt.

73 from Ian G3SEK          Editor, 'The VHF/UHF DX Book'
                          'In Practice' columnist for RadCom (RSGB)
                           http://www.ifwtech.demon.co.uk/g3sek

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