[TowerTalk] Tower calculator software?

[Kurt Andress]

Hi All,

I would never recommend that anyone not already intimately familiar with FEA go try and do what I did!
FEA is not a program one just fires up and runs to find out how to build their tower, it is another profession one needs to learn and become proficient enough with to even start thinking they have enough valid information to make informed decisions!

If you want to become your own tower designer, you will be best serviced by starting with something more like this............http://www.risatech.com/risatower.asp

73, Kurt, K7NV


-------------------------Original Message ------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 7
Date: Fri, 20 Jul 2007 08:21:50 -0700
From: Jim Lux <jimlux at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Tower calculator software?
To: "W7CE" <w7ce at curtiss.net>, <towertalk at contesting.com>
Message-ID: <6.2.3.4.2.20070720081155.02a54428 at mail.earthlink.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed

At 08:04 AM 7/20/2007, W7CE wrote:
>Does anyone know of a software program for doing tower design?  It would
>particularly nice if it already had models of Rohn 25 through 65 tower
>sections.  I found an online calculator for Trylon towers at:
>
>http://www.trylon.com/lightdutytowers/towercalc.asp#safetydata
>
>Something similar for Rohn guyed towers would be great.



What about the GRAPE models that Kurt Andress did? http://k7nv.com/notebook/

If you're looking for a mfr specific one like the trylon web 
calculator, that's going to be something that you'd get from the mfr 
(or from some devoted amateur who's willing to grind out all the 
calculations and conjure up an application specific program).

The Trylon type calculator basically needs structural data for the 
segments, which you can probably calculate from all the individual 
component dimensions and the geometry.  You'll need bending, axial, 
torsional, etc.  You could, if you're the mfr and hava a good 
understanding of the interactions, probably use some simplifying 
assumptions so you don't have to do a full up FEM model.

There's a simple excel spreadsheet from ARRL TIS (tranvity.zip) that 
does some of these calculations too.


Jim, W6RMK 

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