towerguy rope

[SPRINTERLIGHT29]

OK hear goes,
I have 30 feet of 3 legged tower that is attached to my garage approx. 15 feet above the ground
. On top of this I have 20 feet of mast 1 1/4" looks like .100 wall. So now we are 50' above ground level. On top of all this is a High Gain CLR2 that is 19'-10" So to the very top is 69'-10" We are getting up there
now. It is getting windy and the antenna mast is acting like a wet noodle. Time for some guy rope. I have
decided to go with Dacron rope. Seems to be the industry standard. Getting ahead of myself. So for now
I have attached a plate just under the High Gain and attached 4 ropes of whatever I had lying around. Seems to be doing its job other than loosing its tension every other day. My question is what dia of rope

and breaking strength would be safe for my situation. No one carries it around my neck of the woods
so EBay here we come. I don't want to go too big a diameter and become an eyesore but I do want to be safe. Looking forward to hearing from all you experts!!!
Thanks

 

[jackj]

Rope is going to stretch until it breaks. Get something like aircraft control cable. It won't stretch and is very resistant to corrosion. 1/4" should be plenty strong enough.

 

[jim202]

OK hear goes,
I have 30 feet of 3 legged tower that is attached to my garage approx. 15 feet above the ground
. On top of this I have 20 feet of mast 1 1/4" looks like .100 wall. So now we are 50' above ground level. On top of all this is a High Gain CLR2 that is 19'-10" So to the very top is 69'-10" We are getting up there
now. It is getting windy and the antenna mast is acting like a wet noodle. Time for some guy rope. I have
decided to go with Dacron rope. Seems to be the industry standard. Getting ahead of myself. So for now
I have attached a plate just under the High Gain and attached 4 ropes of whatever I had lying around. Seems to be doing its job other than loosing its tension every other day. My question is what dia of rope

and breaking strength would be safe for my situation. No one carries it around my neck of the woods
so EBay here we come. I don't want to go too big a diameter and become an eyesore but I do want to be safe. Looking forward to hearing from all you experts!!!
Thanks

Don't you think that 20 feet more of tower would be a better choice? That way you could use stainless steel hose clamps as a cheap way to tie the antenna to the tower if you don't have the threaded rod type brackets. I would also suggest that you use some sort of anti oxidant on any threads, including the stainless steel hose clamps. The clamps you but at the local auto store use plated steel threaded parts and rust in about a year.

Trying to guy a mast and still able to service the antenna if needed is counter productive. You also need some sort of a ring to tie the rope to. Otherwise, the rope will slide down the mast and require constant adjustment.

If you insist on using rope to prop up a mast, with what your doing i would probably suggest going with 5/16. That is more that strong enough and you can tie knots that can be un done if needed. the smaller rope becomes a real chore to try and get a tight knot out.

 

[K7MEM]

I have a setup similar to yours. I have some light duty tower sections with a mast on top. But I use mine for supporting dipole centers.

While Dacron rope is good for temporary antennas, it may not be the best for tower support. You will be retightening the supports every time the wind kicks up. In my area, especially during the spring, the winds hit 25-30 MPH, every single day.

My tower has a 2' x 2' x 2' concrete base that has a home brew hinge built in. I live in horse country and the local hardware stores cater to ranchers. So they always have some really big hinges available. The hinge is embedded in the base and allows me to lay the tower down for maintenance. At about the 10' level, the tower is secured to the barn roof (my shack is in the barn) with angle iron and, at about 25' feet, I have two guys.

For the guys, I use twine from hay bales.

Top Ten Uses for Baling Twine - Shared Legacy FarmsShared Legacy Farms

It's a fibrous material and provides me with 24' of twine every time I open a bale, which is about every day. It doesn't look like much in the picture but it doesn't stretch much and is very very strong. I just tie together enough section of rope to do what I want. The ends of the twine can be bobbed, to keep it from fraying, with a little heat. I have had my tower up for about 2 years now and only adjusted the guy ropes once. If I need to lower the tower, the ground ends of the guy ropes are easily accessible and easy to untie.

While I get my twine with the hay, I can be purchased on-line.

I also have a Hustler 5BTV mounted on the top of a 18' section of 2" iron pipe. The pipe weighs in at around 85 pounds, so it's not something to use at the top of a light duty tower. The first 4' of the pipe is secured to a fence corner that is cemented in the ground. The fence is also made from 2" iron pipe, welded together. But above 4', I don't use any guys, except for the ground radials. But I don't keep them taught or they might snap in the wind. I can see the antenna move a little bit in the wind, but the pipe doesn't budge.

Martin - K7MEM

 

[wb6uqa]

dacron rope

the wireman.com 750 pound.

 

[SPRINTERLIGHT29]

is that Dacron rope with 750 lbs breaking strength , if so what dia

 

[wb6uqa]

ask the wire man dot com.I think it is 3/16.