What's that adage about "If your antenna survives an ice storm and a
hurricane, it's not big enough and not tall enough?"

It wasn't an ice storm . . . not even really high winds.

I'm where the Potomac river joins the Chesapeake Bay . . . stand on my
front porch, look straight ahead across the Potomac to Maryland; 45
deg right look out over the Bay.

We get ferocious winter winds off the Bay . . . . 50 MPH steady with
gusts to 70-75MPH 2-3 times each winter.

But . . . . last few days have been fairly steady balmy breezes . . .
10 MPH steady, gusts to 20 MPH; 35 - 45 deg, wind chill lower; rain,
no ice.

YET . . . . my TH7DX at 55 feet came down . . . looks as though the
boom snapped near where it connects to the mast . . . goddam awful
pile of twisted aluminum; tower is standing tall. Antenna is 20 or
more years old, been moved several times. Funny thing is, the ancient
Telrex 3-el 40-meter beam is standing tall at 70 feet . . . it's so
damn old, I don't even remember the model number, have lost the
paperwork on it, have patched it a time or two (may be 40M329).

Too bad Telrex left the ham market decades ago.


- - - - - - - - -

When dealing with conservatives,
remember:
Even duct tape can't fix stupid.

But is does muffle the sound.