[TowerTalk] risky business

[Tower (K8RI)]

<snip>
> The scariest moment?  Helping K2BMI put up 100' of rohn 25.
>
> We'd get 3 sections up, above the guyset, and then have to
> attach the next guys.  That stuff is elastic as all get-out,
> and with two 150 lb kids on it, I found it scary as hell.
> That load is outside the spec-envelope.
>
> Only time that was worse, I was taking down a 100' rohn 25 stick
> in the poconos, at 1800' a.s.l.;  It ALWAYS blew 30 kts there, and
> your tag line would flow out horizontally, if not heavily weighted.

It's called "temporary guying".
I've always insisted on temporary guys when working on small towers.
I used better temporary guys on my installation than most of the hams around
here use for permanent ones <:-))

I typically use 1/8 th inch or 3/16 ths wire rope, preferably galvanized.
In http://www.rogerhalstead.com/ham_files/work.htm you can see the loose
temporary guys hanging from the top of the section just put into place and
the tight ones at the top of the section where I'm working. Even with the
temporary guys with me at 170#, I could throw my weight and the tower
wouldn't budge.
If you look closely you can see at least one of the two tag lines hooked on
the tower to the left of my left hand. (left side of tower) in addition to
the pole strap.

I don't have any photos of the Jim pole I built up on the net, but it used a
3:1 pulley system which allowed one person to pull up the 90# tower sections
and the near 300# center mast.
Maybe I can get them together in the near future.

Roger Halstead (K8RI, EN73 & ARRL Life Member)
N833R, World's Oldest Debonair (S# CD-2)
www.rogerhalstead.com
>