[TowerTalk] 80m vertical ideas / questions

[Richard (Rick) Karlquist]

IMHO:  It is MUCH easier in terms of structural engineering to use a 
guyed structure vs self supporting.  Based on questions posted on TT,
I think many people greatly underestimate the difficulty of self
support, while over estimating the difficulty of guying.  Unless
you simply don't have enough land to guy, or you have some
artificial constraint like City Hall or an HOA or an XYL (:-), etc,
I strongly recommend guying.

For many years I have had a 40 foot tower with a 2 element SteppIR on
top guyed with "truck-rope" wrapped around T-posts for guy anchors.
(T-posts are made to hold up chain link fence.)  The T-posts have never
budged during storms, even when my clay soil turns into something
with the consistency of peanut butter.  On some of my guyed antennas,
I have cascaded T-post anchors as follows:  Pound a 6 foot T-post into 
the ground to a depth of about 2 feet, at a 45 degree angle.  Wrap the 
truck rope around the BOTTOM of this T-post.  Then pound in a second T
post a few feet farther out.  Tie a rope from the TOP of the FIRST 
T-post to the BOTTOM of the SECOND T-post.  This prevents the primary
guy post from being pulled over.  Seems obvious once you think about it.

My 90 foot 160 meter vertical is guyed with Dacron rope wrapped around
cascaded T posts.  So far, so good.  OTOH, numerous attempts at
self supporting 30 foot verticals for 40 meters using 2 inch tubing have 
ALL fallen down.

Specifically for 80 meter verticals: I have built many of them out of
two 30 foot pieces of 3 inch irrigation pipe raised with a single
30 foot piece of 2 inch irrigation pipe as a falling derrick.
The two 3 inch pieces are "spliced" together with a sleeve
made out of 3 feet of 3 inch irrigation pipe slit length wise and 
clamped with a half dozen hose clamps.  Very easy, and
possibly cheap if you find used pipe like I did.

(FWIW, in or near CA, NEW pipe is available from Rain for Rent)

73
Rick N6RK

On 12/31/2021 11:24 AM, Bill Coleman wrote:
> Perhaps UHDPE plastic cylinders would do as well as fiberglass?
> 
>> On Dec 31, 2021, at 6:52 AM, Rob Atkinson <ranchorobbo at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> If your vertical is
>> out in the open on flat land and you have a wind storm, it will
>> destroy plastic leg insulators and the ceramic ones hams find aren't
>> made for this.  Not sure about the fiberglass cylinders that fit
>> inside the legs.   Maybe they are more robust.
> 
> Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL        Mail: aa4lr at arrl.net
> Web: http://boringhamradiopart.blogspot.com
> Quote: "Not within a thousand years will man ever fly!"
>             -- Wilbur Wright, 1901
> 
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