[TowerTalk]

[Roger Borowski]

If your calculations are so close to the limitations of the G1000DXA without the
inclusion of the mast, and the mast weight pushes any safety margin over the
limitations for this rotor, you should have used a larger rotator, especially if
you
are uncomfortable now! Its never good practice to "engineer" mechanical things
to near their absolute limits. When doing so, short life and failures are
inevitable!
-=Rog-K9RB=-

----- Original Message -----
From: Frank Norton <franknorton@home.com>
To: <towertalk@contesting.com>
Sent: Wednesday, July 11, 2001 1:11 AM
Subject: [TowerTalk]


>
> Portions from a personal email from Tom, n4kg,
>
> (small portions of prior posts removed to save bandwidth)
>
> On Mon, 28 May 2001 19:39:15 -0400 Frank Norton <franknorton@home.com>
> writes:
>  > Hello everyone,
>  >
>  > I have followed with great interest the discussion about using a Yaesu
>  > G1000. I am unclear as to the use of foot-pounds in
>  > expressing the K factor Yaesu has calculated for safe use of it's
>  > rotors. It is confusing for those who cannot convert easily, and each
>  > added step adds a factor of uncertainty.
>  >
>  > According to the Yaesu rotor manual "K" is calculated by the
> multiplication of the
>  > turning radius of the antenna (in meters) by the weight of the antenna (in
>  > Kg), and the weight of the mast (in Kg)
>
>  >In addition to this calculation one must ensure the square meters of wind
>  > surface area do not exceed 2.2 m2. My brother, who is a mechanicalengineer
>  >ran several calculations on the G1000 and believes it easily capable........
>
> NOTE:  1st para refers to post about 6-8 wks ago  but is self explanatory
> in the discussion that follows.
>
>
> I messed up that post about my confusion about calculating "K" tremendously
> by not putting in the source of my confusion--> The Yaesu web site, and the
> Texas Tower web site both leave out the mast in the calculation of the "K"
> factor , made sense to me. So I purchased my G1000DXA and waited for the
> UPS truck to bring my shiny new rotator, which I purchased with this new
> "scientific system" to assure my "safety freak" side all factors are
> covered. But when I open the box and read the manual there it is--> A half
> page explanation (with diagrams) that suddenly includes the weight of the
> mast in calculating the "K" factor. I didn't understand why--so I started
> making phone calls. I called Texas Towers and they didn't know for sure
> which was correct, next I tried Vertex and had no luck getting anyone but
> marketing who him-hawed around really not knowing what to do.
>
> My brother is a C.P.E. but not a ham, he felt that in engineering a
> structure he would not consider the mast, but since he did not have access
> to the engineering information on the rotor he could not say whether the
> vertical loading should be included in the "K" factor or not. Yaesu's own
> literature contradicted itself. I still have not received a reply to my
> letter from Vertex/Yaesu.
>
> I would like to feel completely comfortable with my decision to leave the
> mast out of the calculation, but if something happens and the rotator
> clamshell fails, and the antennas fall damaging part of my home......what
> will the insurance company determine? God forbid what if someone were hurt,
> or killed! The safety freak inside me has not been sleeping well waiting
> for an answer from Vertex/Yaesu (now 6 weeks overdue).
>
> Thanks for your email at least I know there is someone else who feels that
> the concentric force of the mast is insignificant compared to the eccentric
> torque of the antennae when calculating "K".
>
> At 10:31 AM 7/10/2001 -0600, N4KGwrote:
> Hi Frank,
>
> I have never understood why weight of the mast is a factor since
> it has such a small radius. Also, the K factor is not a "real"
> moment but a ficticous number that "sort of" indicates rotor
> capability. The actual moments depend on WHERE the weight
> is distributed. Empirical evidence is still the best criteria for
> rotor selection, unfortunately.
>
> Tom N4KG
>
>   73 de Frank, kb8xu
>
>
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>



List Sponsor: Are you thinking about installing a tower this summer? Call us
for information on our fabulous Trylon Titan self-supporting towers - up to
96-feet for less than $2000! at 888-833-3104 <A HREF="http://www.ChampionRadio.com">
www.ChampionRadio.com</A>

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