I don't intend to ruffle any feathers, nor do I direct this at any one individual but, the number of assumptions made and the knee-jerk reactions and false statements being made in response to a suggestion that magnetic mounts can be successfully used in some circumstances is both amazing and somewhat disappointing. I would have hoped that we could have a more "professional" atmosphere on this list.
"Best practices" if it in this case is taken to mean to use a commercially available professionally engineered mount which has been engineered to "withstand 100 mph wind loads" (to use an arbitrary example) instead of using a mounting system which will withstand much more than that, albeit not a "professionally engineered" solution is just wrong. I would rather go with the stronger, more stable solution rather than compromise on the integrity of the mounting to attain the engineer's label. Whether that is "best" or not I suppose would depend upon whether your goal was safety or following the "norm". It has been suggested in another post that nothing should ever be mounted on a tower that some idiot might at some point decided to use as a tie-off anchor point. That is a good idea in practice, but how many of us have attached a lightweight yagi antenna to a tower leg, assuming that nobody would ever be foolish enough to use it to tie off to, or even use as a foothold or handhold? Are we supposed to only use yagi antennas engineered to withstand improper use in case some idiot decides to tie off to one? What about omni antennas consisting of a thin metal rod, possibly encased in a small fiberglass tube? The point is that while safety should be a top priority, the goal of never mounting something on a tower that could at some point be mis-used as an anchor or support point is an unrealistic goal, which I would go so far as to say that those who propose such a goal have not been able to meet themselves, assuming that they have actually mounted equipment on towers. As far as mounting heavy stuff which might fall off and hurt someone, I would assume that the reaction(s) in this thread would indicate that non-penetrating roof mounts, chimmney mount brackets, clamping to roof vents not specifically engineered to withstand such use, and all other forms of mounting which might under some conditions fail and allow the "heavy" objects to fall would be outlawed in your town were you given the regulatory authority to do so. Or, perhaps because they were "designed by professionals" they would pass muster in your book in spite of the fact that any fool looking at them could imagine a likely scenario in which they would fail. I have seen numerous "professionally engineered" solutions which I would not use in a given circumstance because of the likelihood of it failing, and have in several instances used a solution designed by an "amateur" (me) so that I could rest easier at night, knowing that I have done what I could to mitigate the actual risk to life and property. Sometimes that means doing things in a way that is "out of the norm", which scares some people. That they are scared by that which is not "normal" without a rational basis for their fear is disheartening. Many rules and regulations have been foisted upon us and have limited the options available to those less suited for the job at hand simply because of those irrational fears. I have seen mounts which were "professionally" mounted to towers using welded studs (either welded to existing towers or in some cases to towers being constructed) using small diameter bolts which were definitely not something that I would trust my life to, and other mounts that were well engineered and would likely withstand likely wind loads on the equipment that they were supporting, yet which will probably fail in hurricane or tornado force winds. Are these in-appropriate? should we engineer everything to withstand +500mph wind loads? Should all magnets be outlawed? (I see lots of magnetically mounted omni antennas on vehicles traveling at high speed down public roadways, can you imagine that???) I bet some of those responding negatively to magnetic mounts even have magnets holding stuff on their refrigerators, one of the highest use and traffic areas in the typical home. I can show numerous examples of solutions designed and built by amateurs which in the final analysis are safer and better solutions than commercially available, professionally designed solutions to the same problem, but the "amateur" solutions do not have the blessing of the designed by professionals label. Does that make them inappropriate? In the views of some people, sadly, the answer is yes. All of that being said, whenever one is considering their options for mounting equipment on a tower, safety should be a top priority (and I would add should take precedence over having a "designed by professionals" label) and one should never mount equipment in a fashion which is likely to cause serious injury or death to innocent members of the community. John Clint Ricker wrote: > > Not to ruffle any feathers and not directed at anyone, but lack of > problems > on a single install does not always coincide with proper approaches on > this > sort of thing. Best practices are just that--the best approach(es) to > doing > technical work--there are also bad practices, not so good practices, > it may > work practices, it should hold practices, and we'll deal with that later > practices. They often will get the job done, but, just so that we're all > clear on this, none of the later category, no matter how many one-off > implementations are functional to some degree or another, will ever be > "best > practices". > > Personally, if I was in your town or especially on any sort of a planning > board or whatever, I'd be fairly nervous about the idea of big heavy > objects > being held up by magnets, especially when (seemingly) it is being done by > people who don't necessarily have a lot of experience with calculating > load > bearing stuff with magnets. The fact that you hold up anecdotal > evidence as > a basis for its validity rather than "it's engineered to withstand 100Mph > winds or whatever pretty much illustrates my point--this is just a bad > idea. Just keep in mind that one falling antenna that kills one > person is > enough to bring out major liability lawsuits that you will not be covered > against, not to mention bringing some fairly major legislative regulation > and licensing requirements for mounting affecting the whole industry. > If I > knew that antennas in my area were be magnet-mounted by amateurs, I > would be > personally leading the charge for some regulation on this. > > Ok, sorry for any offense. I'm not trying to flame anyone, but this > is just > not a good idea. > > -Clint Ricker > Kentnis Technologies > > > > On 7/12/07, Ray & Jean <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> >> Carl >> We used one from Tessco that has a collar that bolts around the vent on >> top >> of tank and adjustable legs for leveling.It has been up there 4 years >> with >> no problems.It was easy to install approx 1hour. >> Ray Hill >> >> ----- Original Message ----- >> From: "J. Vogel" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> To: "WISPA General List" <wireless@wispa.org> >> Sent: Wednesday, July 11, 2007 6:12 PM >> Subject: Re: [WISPA] Water Tower Mounts >> >> >> > Carl Shivers wrote: >> >> We are going to be mounting Panel Sector antennas to 2 Water Towers. >> One >> >> tower is ideal with a rail that has been designed for pipe mounting. >> The >> >> other is not so kind. It simply has a ladder up the side and over the >> >> top, >> >> no catwalk. We were thinking about using one of those 170 lbs. Water >> >> Tower >> >> mounts. This means we either have to get a welder up there to weld >> the >> >> plates or come up with an industrial epoxy solution. >> > I have successfully used magnets on a couple of towers for 2 years >> now... >> > >> > I don't completely trust them, so I also run a safety cable around the >> > mast >> > and anchor it to a solid projection on the tower so that if the >> magnets >> > did >> > turn loose, the mast wouldn't hit the ground, but in two years, and >> > through >> > several thunderstorms and pretty good winds, the magnets haven't >> shifted >> > a bit that I can see. >> > >> > -- >> > >> > John Vogel - [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> > http://www.vogent.net 620-754-3907 >> > Vogel Enterprises, LLC >> > Information Services Provider serving S.E. Kansas >> > >> > >> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >> >> > Would you like to see your advertisement here? Let the WISPA Board >> know >> > your feelings about allowing advertisements on the free WISPA >> lists. The >> > current Board is taking this under consideration at this time. We >> want >> to >> > know your thoughts. >> > >> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >> >> > -- >> > WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org >> > >> > Subscribe/Unsubscribe: >> > http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless >> > >> > Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ >> > >> > >> > -- >> > No virus found in this incoming message. >> > Checked by AVG Free Edition. >> > Version: 7.5.476 / Virus Database: 269.10.2/894 - Release Date: >> 7/10/2007 >> > 5:44 PM >> > >> > >> >> >> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >> >> Would you like to see your advertisement here? Let the WISPA Board know >> your feelings about allowing advertisements on the free WISPA lists. >> The >> current Board is taking this under consideration at this time. We >> want to >> know your thoughts. >> >> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >> >> -- >> WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org >> >> Subscribe/Unsubscribe: >> http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless >> >> Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ >> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Would you like to see your advertisement here? Let the WISPA Board > know your feelings about allowing advertisements on the free WISPA > lists. The current Board is taking this under consideration at this > time. We want to know your thoughts. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > -- John Vogel - [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.vogent.net 620-754-3907 Vogel Enterprises, LLC Information Services Provider serving S.E. Kansas -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Would you like to see your advertisement here? Let the WISPA Board know your feelings about allowing advertisements on the free WISPA lists. The current Board is taking this under consideration at this time. We want to know your thoughts. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
