[UK-CONTEST] Attn: any ZX-yagi owners out there.

[Dr K Kerr]

Ah, that things were so simple!
I'll spare you the details......
Keith

At 07:46 29/01/04 +0000, John Lemay wrote:
>Hi Keith
>
>Sorry to hear about the damage. But can I play devils advocate and ask what
>on earth possessed you to leave your system so exposed in the widely and
>correctly forecast blizzards ? Surely you are familiar with wind loading and
>snow loading ?
>
>Regards
>
>John G4ZTR
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: <pat0
>58 at abdn.ac.uk>
>To: <uk-contest at contesting.com>
>Sent: Wednesday, January 28, 2004 7:25 PM
>Subject: [UK-CONTEST] Attn: any ZX-yagi owners out there.
>
>
>Hi folks,
>Truely evil night up here in the frozen north. Got home through the drifts
>(eventually) with a little daylight to spare to see my 3el 20m ZX yagi
>lashing about at 70ft in this force 11, doing untold damage to itself and
>the 15m yagi underneath it, held up only by what is left of the bracing
>rope. A sight for sore eyes for sure!
>Lowering and tilting over this tangled mess of aluminium was a pantomime
>that even I thought was extreme.
>
>Diagnosis: The boom to mast clamp has completely sheared forward and aft
>of the U-bolts fixed to the mast. Clear metal fatigue job and a most
>spectacular failure. This yagi....the source of more intra-contest grief
>than I care to think of.....was put up in almost identical weather in I
>think it was 2001, just prior to ARRL. Some may recall my report!
>This is not a big yagi but clearly the boom to mast clamp is unable to
>cope with the rotational and flexing forces when it gets windy. I am NOT
>impressed.
>
>Just thought I should warn any other owners. Looks like I am out of any
>All Band activity for a while and maybe any band activity if this keeps
>up. 80, 40 and 10m still standing when last I looked!
>Good luck,
>Keith GM4YXI (GM7V)
>
>
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------------
Dr Keith M Kerr,
Consultant and Clinical Senior Lecturer,
Department of Pathology,
Aberdeen University Medical School
and Aberdeen Royal Infirmary,
Foresterhill,
Aberdeen,
Scotland, UK,
AB25  2ZD
Tel 01224 552414   Fax  01224 663002
k.kerr at abdn.ac.uk