The HexBeam and mast survived yesterday's wind event. We had a several-hour period of high winds in the 35-40mph range with gusts in the 60 mph range. There was a singular period with gusts at 90 mph recorded by a weather station near me.
After last winters wind events, where I lost the original mast and nearly destroyed the antenna, I worried that I might not be able to build an antenna system that could survive the winds we are seeing here. This area is rated as 70 mph wind zone and I guyed last years mast for that kind of wind. Last year proved that my design was not strong enough hold up to the actual storms we get.
When I rebuilt mast and the antenna over the summer, I used 4x4s for the anchors. Previously I had used 4 ft of #3 rebar driven into the ground-that was not strong enough to hold the upper guys. I had also used 750 lb test Kermantle (double braid) for the upper guys. This year I have 3/16 steel aircraft cable coupled with a lower section of double braid. That was hopefully not as stretchy as the long length of double braid. I also tensioned the guys much more strongly - to the point I was worried that the mast might collapse under the compressive load.
I will need to retension the guys because I am sure that they have stretched a bit during the storm but I think the antenna mast is safe.
