[TowerTalk] Have you had success with ....

[Bob Shohet, KQ2M]

I originally though about the idea of leaving the elements uncapped and putting some sort of mesh in them, but I didn’t like the idea of rain/snow being blown almost horizontally back into the element and then freezing there and damaging the element – given all the ice storms with freezing rain at my qth this is a real issue.  Our devastating January 20-21, 2019 ice storm had heavy freezing rain falling at 10 F blown by 50 mph wind gusts.  In some spots the freezing rain froze started to freeze almost immediately – had the element tips been left open the water would have frozen inside the element tips and many elements would have been destroyed.  Bad enough that the freezing rain froze on the outside of the element tips and some of the elements bent/broke from the increased weight of 1” radial ice and the additional surface area on which the wind mph wind gusts could act.  Also, since I use polypropylene rope inside the element tips to dampen the vibrations – I would not have been able to keep the rope in there without end caps.  If I had attempted to keep the rope in there without end caps the rope would have wicked in the moisture and gradually disintegrated or fallen out.  Not using the rope inside the element tips was not an option.   .  

When we moved to this qth in 1994, I had 4 1/2 years to see how often we have ice storms here (averaging 6+ per year!) before putting up my first tower.  Between the ice storms and noticing the super tiny little critters getting through our window screens with ease (gnats, spiders and other insects) I was concerned that if I used a fine mesh, the mesh could give them a place to anchor webs or cocoons (for the bigger critters) in an element tip and that could create an even bigger mess. I have seen the eggs laid by other insects against the mesh of our window screens and have wondered if they could get through the screen when they hatch and then come into the house.  If they can do that then they can certainly do that with the mesh in an element tip.  I decided that it was more prudent at my qth to properly seal the element with an end cap and see what happened.  20+ years later I have no doubt that it was the right decision.

73


Bob  KQ2M


From: jimlux 
Sent: Saturday, July 20, 2019 1:39 PM
To: towertalk at contesting.com 
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Have you had success with ....

On 7/20/19 9:30 AM, Bob Shohet, KQ2M wrote:
> My experiences have been different from KK9A.  Open element tips with nothing capping them, is just an invitation for spiders, bees, wasps and other flying creatures to nest in them (extremely common here in the deep forests of Western CT) and their nests block the drainage of water, trapping it inside for it to freeze and split the element.  Or, the water stays inside and the weight builds up adding to the potential weight and torque imbalances in a heavy wind.

what about shoving plastic scrubbies, or rolled up plastic window mesh 
in the end. vents the air/water, doesn't let bugs make nests, etc.