[TowerTalk] Antenna & Tower Wind Load Ratings

[Steve Maki]

I never used end caps. Always either taped the folded out rope, or put a 
couple of cross-wires or a screw or something thru the element tip to 
contain the rope. Never had a problem with either of those methods.

-Steve K8LX

On 6/17/2017 11:37 AM, john at kk9a.com wrote:

> I had a Telrex 6el 20m beam and a HyGain 204 that made an annoying rattle in
> the wind.  The HyGain also shed element tips. I have never tried rope in the
> elements, one thing that I dislike about it is it requires end caps which
> can trap water. Later I built Homebrew beams with the ARRL 120MPH element
> taper schedule and the noise and breakage ceased.
> 
> John KK9A
> 
> To:	towertalk <towertalk at contesting.com>
> Subject:	Re: [TowerTalk] Antenna & Tower Wind Load Ratings
> From:	Steve Maki Date:	Fri, 16 Jun 2017 21:22:58 -0400
> 
>> On 6/16/2017 10:53 AM, Jim Thomson wrote:
> 
>> Vortex shedding is  well known.   Eles vibrate  up + down like crazy, like
> 6
>> Inches in total,
>> in just a light breeze.  Ask anybody who own a 204BA or any wilson product.
> 
>> Those swedged eles are a pita..and so is
>> having to put rope inside the eles..which is still in the current Hy-gain
>> 204-BA manual.
> 
> While rope in the elements is not what I'd call an elegant solution; it
> works, and works well in almost all cases to completely cure breeze flutter
> without having to toss an existing antenna in the trash and start from
> scratch.
> 
> -Steve K8LX