[TowerTalk] Wonderpole mast guying

Sat Aug 13 21:38:39 EDT 2005

To Gene and Fred:

Thanks for the GREAT ideas. The Prusik knot is a great idea and simple to
implement.  Fred, the idea of a simple wooden clamp type ring is also
excellent. I'll try both out and see which is better.

Thanks to both of you for great ideas !

73, Jamie
WB4YDL

-----Original Message-----
From: ersmar at comcast.net [mailto:ersmar at comcast.net] 
Sent: Saturday, August 13, 2005 8:14 PM
To: James C. Hall, MD; keith at dutson.net; towertalk at contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Wonderpole mast guying

Jamie:

     A couple of ideas:

1.   Can the inner pole section slip out of the next-heavier ones?  If so,
might you be able to remove the 3/4 inch and 1-1/4 inch sections and install
guys rings BEFORE you re-install the sections?

2.   If the sections cannot slip out of each other, how about three
foot-long loops of Dacron rope, each with a small steel ring attached to it
via a modified Prusik knot ( http://www.iland.net/~jbritton/prusik.htm ),
and thence attached to the pole via another modified Prusik knot just above
the tighteners?  Each ring would be about a foot away from the pole and
connect to the guy ropes via clips into the rings (military-style guy
attachment.)  Or you could simply tie the guy rope to the rings.  The long
loops might give the pole some rotational ability before they actually slip
around the pole during rotation.  [I'd recommend skipping steps three and
four in the referenced URL; otherwise the three knots will result in the guy
points being several inches above each other.  Plus the additional wrap
around the pole will be too tight to allow the knot to slip as the pole
rotates.]

FWIW.

73 de
Gene Smar  AD3F

> Hi Keith:
> 
> No, it's not the Mast Company's mast - I'm familiar with those as well.
> Here's the site - http://www.wonderpole.com/custom_form.html . It's a bit
> stiffer. I'm just trying to figure an easy, if not elegant, way of
centrally
> guying it, since it has these fat tighteners that you can't slide a guy
ring
> over. I wish there was something like a necklace spring snap in a ring
that
> you could attach to a mast over a hose clamp - that would be the ticket !
> 
> 73, Jamie
> WB4YDL
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: towertalk-bounces at contesting.com
> [mailto:towertalk-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Keith Dutson
> Sent: Saturday, August 13, 2005 6:37 PM
> To: towertalk at contesting.com
> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Wonderpole mast guying
> 
> Jamie,
> 
> I think I have one of these.  I got it from The Mast Company.  Mine is the
> ruggedized version that comes in a large PVC case.  It was obtained to
take
> on the Falklands (VP8WWW) trip last year (no trees there).  However, we
> found it was not rigid enough to hold up a dipole.  We used plastic
> tie-wraps to hold the sections tightly together and prevent them from
> collapsing.  Guying seemed to be fruitless.  In the end we took a set of
the
> military aluminum poles with guy rings.  This worked quite well.  See
photo
> at http://www.gtdx.com/dxpeditions/2004/Photos/mosleyrainbow.jpg.
> 
> 73, Keith NM5G
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: towertalk-bounces at contesting.com
> [mailto:towertalk-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of James C. Hall, MD
> Sent: Saturday, August 13, 2005 5:05 PM
> To: towertalk at contesting.com
> Subject: [TowerTalk] Wonderpole mast guying
> 
> Hello:
> 
>  
> 
> For our VHF hilltop efforts, we use a 30’ fiberglass (polytube)
Wonderpole.
> This extends vertically with tighteners every 7-8’. This is really very
nice
> for portable operation and was described in the June CQ magazine for VHF
> Hilltopper action. My question is how to fabricate a rotating guy ring for
> the 1 ¼ “ section.  The top section is ¾” and then 1” and so forth.  I
want
> to guy at the ¾” and 1 ¼” sections.  The problem comes in that you can’t
get
> a ring to go over the tighteners  - something has to wrap around the pole
> section.  I envision something like what is used for an AB-577 military
mast
> in the center guy ring which wraps around a junction.  So far I have the
> idea of a PVC flange for electrical conduit cut in half along its axis and
> wrapping it around the tube with a hose clamp holding it together. A piece
> of plastic or rubber hose slit along its length and held in place under
the
> flange with another hose clamp would maintain the guy position on the
pole.
> The guys can be attached how ? I thought maybe a rudimentary
‘thimble’-like
> setup with some heat shrink tubes around some 3/16” Dacron rope tied
around
> the top of the flange, but that seems clunky.
> 
>  
> 
> Anybody have any (brilliant) ideas ?
> 
>  
> 
> 73, Jamie
> 
> WB4YDL
> 
> _______________________________________________
> 
> See: http://www.mscomputer.com  for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless
> Weather Stations", and lot's more.  Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with
any
> questions and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
> 
> _______________________________________________
> TowerTalk mailing list
> TowerTalk at contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
> 
> _______________________________________________
> 
> See: http://www.mscomputer.com  for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless
> Weather Stations", and lot's more.  Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with
any
> questions and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
> 
> _______________________________________________
> TowerTalk mailing list
> TowerTalk at contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
> 
> _______________________________________________
> 
> See: http://www.mscomputer.com  for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless
Weather 
> Stations", and lot's more.  Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any
questions 
> and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
> 
> _______________________________________________
> TowerTalk mailing list
> TowerTalk at contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk