[TowerTalk] yearly maintenance checks Re: Preforms

[Jim Thomson]

Maybe so and maybe not.  Ice storms have take down perfectly good tower 
systems.  So have high winds that were outside the norm for an area.

>
> You know.. we see this advice all the time: "It's time for your annual
> spring tower check".. but I wonder.

## time to do the annual check up is in the late summer/fall... not after the winter has come and gone. 
I'd do it at least twice a year, before the snow starts flying..and again in the spring.   You can see a lot
just by using a spotting scope on a tripod. It's amazing the detail  I can see with  20 x 80 binoculars on a
tripod, or  my Celestron C-90.. 90mm small scope.   The scope is a small thing, optically folded back on itself,
and really short in length, weighs zip. Then the camera can be put on the end of it.   I also have a special clamp that
slides over the window glass of any car/truck, that's perfect to stabilize a camera/scope/binocs. 

##  One of the fellows here in town had a tower cam mounted to the rotating mast.  Painting towers orange/white
[or sky blue] is a pita.  Once that paint starts peeling, it looks bad...and no fun to repaint.   That cold  galvanize is the 
most that should be needed  for minor surface rust, etc. 

##  IF your ehs guy wire shows a lot of surface rust....time to replace em, not repaint them.  In order to paint them, you would
have to undo the turnbuckles and 1st install a temp guy wire.   Why bother, just replace all of em. 

## I use that marine grade never seize goop  + small torque wrench's all the time.   Most folks have no clue as to how much torque they have
on nuts/bolts etc.  95% of ham have no clue how much tension they have on their guy wires.  I have seen everything from really sloppy/loose,
to WAY over tensioned.   One guy wire failure anywhere, and poof, it's all coming down.   These rotating towers are what really freak me out.
There is nothing at all to absorb the torque.   One fellow posted on here year ago, who had 4 x side mount swinging gates..and a 40m yagi on top. 
The gates were in the worse possible orientation one day.....and all 4 of em  pointed in the same direction. Wind got up..and produced a massive
TQ on the tower, and even with multiple sets of guy wires, one leg sheared at the base. 

## For towers <120'  tall... the strongest thing I can envision is a heavy duty self support tower....with the addition of guy wires on it. 
Adding TQ  compensation to any yagi  goes along way to solving basic problems.

later...... Jim  VE7RF