[TowerTalk] Tower Collapse in South Dakota

[David Gilbert]

I think ham radio tower installations have far too unpredictable 
potential failure modes to make generalizations.  Many are short enough 
to be relatively stiff and would tend to lay down in the case of a 
failed guy.  Some are overloaded and/or vulnerable to twisting, which 
would tend to bring them down in a heap.  Others are poorly maintained 
and could fail in all sorts of ways.  The results could be different in 
every case, and I've seen pictures of several of them.  If I was making 
rules for private tower installations I'd require that set back as well.

73,
Dave   AB7E



On 1/21/2023 10:27 AM, sawyered at earthlink.net wrote:
> The point wasn't about saying that tall commercial towers are built like
> most ham towers or that they should be.  There was a statement made that the
> "lay down" failure of this tower is a reason why municipalities require the
> tower be set back on property lines more than the height of the tower
> (referring to ham towers).  My point was that most ham towers wouldn't fail
> that way.
>
>   
>
> Ed  N1UR