[TowerTalk] Phillystran Tension Gage or Guage

[k7lxc at aol.com]

> I can't find it now, but a couple years ago I found some calibrationdata comparing the Loos PT-2 on 3/16 EHS compared to the SS wire rope it was designed for. I recall that the PT-2 read perhaps 10 percent high on the EHS. (The true tension was lower than the PT-2 indicated.) Since EHS is very stiff, that makes sense. However, K7LXC, in "Up the Tower", made a similar measurement, and found little difference in the readings. These measurements were all made with a piece of 19 strand 3/16 SS in series with 7 strand EHS and a commercial tension gauge.       Yes, there is a difference. My test as mentioned above showed the straight-line reading was as expected. What I didn't take into account was the relative stiffness of each wire which would be differences in the actual deflection and thus measurement. (I'm not an engineer obviously.)      A real comparison was posted on TT and the result was that the Loos reads 10-20% or so lower than actual. I thought I had included that verbage on the website but apparently not.      IMO it's more important for the guy tensions to be equalized than it is to have exactly the amount of specified tension, as long as it's within a tolerable range, that is. Tension varies with temperature so there'll be some variation in the tension anyway.       In any case, the Loos is a valuable tool I wouldn't be without.  Cheers,Steve     K7LXCTOWER TECHProfessional tower services for amateur and professionalandchampionradio.com