JANUARY 24, 2019

Atlantic Storm Makes Landfall, Buffeting Verticals with 80 MPH Gusts

Storm Surge Swamps Northeast Vertical One Day After Raising Its Feedpoint 2 Feet

 

4' Storm Surge Swamps Northeast Vertical

One day after I raised its feedpoint 2 feet!

 

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Vertical in 80 MPH Winds

Outrageously, the day after I raised the Northeast vertical feedpoint 2 feet higher, an unannounced storm off the Atlantic landfalls in Southern Rhode Island, bringing with it sustained windspeeds of 45 MPH, gusting to 80 MPH for several hours. I couldn't  believe it as I sat in the ham shack lookinbg out through its sliding glass door watching enormous gusts bend the verticals over despite their 3-point, double-tier guying systems. Many times they were parallel to the horizon, almost as if bowing to the North in supplication to the Gods blowing them from the South

NOAA Warning

When the gusts subsided, both verticals attempted to resume their vertical positions in winds measured by my anenometer at 45 MPH! I was proud of them, and, of course, of myself, as each attempted to return to their vertical positions under tensions provided by their guys. But then one wind gust arrived, around 5 PM, that pushed the Northeast vertical to the North so extremely that it was permanently bent and could no longer stand up straight.

Remember, the Northeast vertical is the one with single-walled tubing, whereas the Southwest vertical has double-walled tubing inside its middle-third. It emerged from the storm without any permanent damage despite the placement of its upper guy ring uo too high. The newly-renovated remote-switching/Z-match box resolutely defied the Atlantic storm, emerging unscathed and bone dry when opened up the next day.

Newly-renovated Remote Switchbox Defies Atlantic Storm

The contraption worked perfectly.

 

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Succotash Salt Marsh at High Tide

At this point ground conductivity is supplanted by the skin-effect,

rendering the modelling of the phased verticals beyond reach of antenna modelling programs.

 

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