[TowerTalk] Guying a Universal Aluminum Tower

[n8de at thepoint.net]

I agree with Bill.
Guys are NOT intended to be used with self-supporting towers, but ...  
can be used with much caution.

The reason the tower may 'sway' with winds after being up so long is,  
as Bill notes, probably due to distortion of the bolt holes due to  
stress.

You MUST re-tighten all the bolts AT LEAST ONCE per year!  If you  
haven't done that, those egg-shaped holes will cause you grief and the  
tower will NOT stop swaying.

IF necessary, you might have to drill NEW holes in the legs to avoid  
the egg-shaped bolt holes due to stress.

I suggest you first tighten all the bolts, bottom to top, and then  
check the 'sway' to see if it has minimized.  IF NOT, you may have to  
take each bolt out and examine the bolt holes .. that's a lot of work,  
but well worth the caution.

I have 4 Universal towers up now, and will put up 3 more soon.

73
Don
N8DE


Quoting Cqtestk4xs at aol.com:

> Two thoughts on that:
>
> 1.  I think that violates the prime directive...not  recommended by the
> manufacturer.
>
> 2.  That constant movement back and forth eventually "eggs"  out the
> openings where the tower flexes the most, causing further "egging"   
> since  more
> movement is allowed.
>
> This has been my experience with both Heights and Universal  towers.
>
> By the way, I did guy an old Heights tower that was 64 feet with  one set
> of 3/16 guys.  Just be sure if you do this to put something between  the guy
> grip and the tower (I used an old hose), otherwise galvanic action  really
> tears up the aluminum.
>
> Bill K4XS/KH7XS
>
>
>
> In a message dated 11/18/2011 3:22:39 P.M. Greenwich Standard Time,
> w0jx at yahoo.com writes:
>
> Has  anyone out there successfully guyed a Universal aluminum tower? My
> current  configuration is 30 taper, 26 st, 26 taper, 22 st, 22 taper,
>
> 18 st, 18  taper, and 14 top. It has a huge monstrous concrete base. It is
> 80 feet total  in height and nothing else in on the tower. I had a TH6 on it
> for 12 years  with no problems but just replaced that with a TH-11 (a
> fantastic antennas  BTW) which has a 12 sq. ft wind load,   
> considerably more than
> the TH6. With  high winds, it moves around quite a bit and I am
> uncomfortable with that. I am  thinking of putting two sets of guys   
> on it to stabilize
> the movement without  shifting a lot of the load to the guys. The tower is
> protected in most  directions by mature trees that are taller than the tower
> and that break the  force of the wind quite a bit.
>
>
> I have seen these towers with a set  of rope guys at the top to minimize
> the swaying but I think it was done  without any real thought to it.
>
> 73, Dennis W0JX/8
> Milan,  OH
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