[TowerTalk] Rope for Guys

[K7LXC@aol.com]

In a message dated 99-09-14 19:22:05 EDT, w0hh@grapevine.net writes:

> He told me he was putting up 70' of Rohn 25G. I asked him some
>  questions, based on the many things I have learned here on TT  and was
>  somewhat confused  vis a vis  what I am used to hearing on TT and  what
>  he had planned to do. He has the hole dug, mostly into wet clay. It is
>  5'x5'x5' which is OK with me and is putting in a rebar cage. But he
>  plans to put a section in the bottom of the hole and  then pour the
>  concrete around it. This concrete will contain fibers of some kind. I
>  recently patched my driveway with something like this. He plans to use a
>  Hazer, T2X, and a new TH7  and possibly a vhf antenna as well. The
>  PROBLEM is, that he also plans to use schedule 40 galvanized pipe for a
>  mast and one set of guys, made of some kind of poly carbonate (?) rope.
>  A big wind took down his last tower and TH6, I think it was a BX type.
>  I, of course, tried to relate what I have learned here. Could this setup
>  possibly stay up in a wind?

     Sounds like a typical amateur "hip-pocket engineering" job. I would say 
his chances of having another tower failure are pretty danged good. 

     I don't know what kind of poly carbonate rope he's talking about. 
Nonetheless, the ONLY suitable guy materials I'm familiar with are: EHS, 
Phillystran and the Polygon rods. Anything else is a violation of the LXC 
Prime Directive to "DO what the manufacturer says".

     Rohn calls for two sets of guys and of course they have to be of a 
suitable material. If he lives in your county, it's a 75 MPH windspeed zone 
(http://www.championradio.com under Tech Notes) so big winds aren't the 
problem. Nonetheless this proposed installation will be a failure waiting to 
happen. Some people never learn.

     I hope he puts some gravel in the bottom of the hole for tower leg 
drainage or he'll be making another mistake.

Cheers,   Steve   K7LXC
Champion Radio Products
Tower Tech

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