[TowerTalk] Guy Tensioning

[Jim Thomson]

Date: Mon, 24 Oct 2016 06:54:06 -0400
From: "StellarCAT" <rxdesign at ssvecnet.com>
To: <K7LXC at aol.com>, "tower" <towertalk at contesting.com>
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Guy Tensioning

Wellllll Steve.... here?s my point ... so many many times on this group you get the response to a question: ?what did your PE say about it?? Or the return comment will be ?trust the manufacturer?! And, although I don?t believe a PE is needed for anything other than out of the ordinary designs and/or where required (here its not) and one can just use the manufacturers info to design by ? I agree with these points wholeheartedly. 

I have to believe NO PE would sign off on this ? saying ?its ok? ... nor would the manufacturer say ?SET TENSION TO 10% max? if they didn?t mean it! THEIR ratings are based on these minimum settings. 

SO I don?t know that one can be so precise following the ?learned ones? instructions on most things and say unscientifically ?this one isn?t as important?... 

I say this with all respect to you and others suggesting its not that important ? but disagree in terms that, if you were on the opposite side, I know you?d agree because I?ve seen you admonish people for not following the manufacturers specs. 

As for ?no one uses them anymore? ... I don?t remember seeing any distinction on using LOOS gauges (models) ? mostly just the name LOOS gauges. Besides the fact that the 2 I had tested the old (B) and the new (PT2) were within practical consideration the same and both woefully low compared to the PT.

Gary 
K9RX


##  I thought sailboat rigging used SS ??     Could  you hang some say  .25 inch galvanized EHS  in the vertical plane, then hang a weight on the bottom of it, with ur favourite gauge of choice, just above the weight ? 
Concrete  weighs  4000 lbs per cubic yard.  ( 148.148 lbs per cubic foot).     A block of cement, that is 18  inches x 18 inches  x 18 inches =   3.375 cubic feet. =  500 lbs exactly.    Use a cum- along to get the 500 lb weight
just off the ground, then see if your various gauges  reads anywhere close to 500 lbs.   Ok,  you dont require the EHS at all, just the cum-along + gauge + weight.   You get the idea here though, use a given weight to determine 
if any of the gauges is close to reality..then perhaps use that info..for different known weights, to make your own loos / PT  calibration chart.   For all we know, the PT gauge may not be accurate either.  

##  Then factor in what size guy wire you are using, and also the extremes in ambient temp.  IE: set the guys for a little less than 10% in summer WX, since you know the guys will be stiffer in sub freezing wx. 
Some 100 /50 lb weights used for weight lifting would be another source of known weight, then you have the option of adding enough weight to run various calcs.   Large diam threaded  rod fed through the weights, with
a flat bar or channel steel on the bottom of the weights, and a heavy duty eye hook on the top of the threaded rod would do the trick. 

##  A loos gauge would work, provided you had a correct cross referenced calibration chart to go with it.   Now whether several loos  gauges would all read the same  with a given weight is another matter.  But it might be close enough,
so a universal calibration chart   could be used by all loos gauge  owners. 

Jim   VE7RF