Hurricane-Proofing a Vertical Delta Loop

Regular readers - if there are any - will know of my passion for the vertical delta loop.

Quiet in receive, and a top performer from this elevated site overlooking the Irish Sea, it's a long-term success that I will never abandon.

The only problem with an elevated site near the sea is the very high winds we experience.  From October to early March, Atlantic storms are frequently blasting us with 65mph gusts.  But 45 - 50mph can (and do!) occur at any time of the year.

For five years, I've simply held my delta loop up with a standard fishing/squid/roach pole of very thin glass fibre, guyed with one set of Dyneema 2mm rope at the bottom of the fifth section (i.e. at about 4m above ground.)  The pole is 8m tall overall, with the top two sections removed.  The base/radial wire of the loop is at about 1.8m over ground.  This has worked well, requiring the antenna to be retracted only for a few hours when the very worst winds are passing.

The wind wasn't very strong - just 30mph - for the video below, but you can just about see the top wobbling about in the wind, which is what I've been trying to get rid of recently.

But, as the fishing pole stands out in sun, rain and lots of wind, the glass fibre does weaken at maybe 2% per year.  The amount of bending that the pole undergoes in a 50mph wind is quite remarkable, and yet it does so for years without snapping.

When these poles snap, it's because a small crack has developed on the top of one segment, on the side to the lee of the prevailing wind.  With further wind, the crack quickly develops into a rip, and the support fails.  

With my current pole reaching old age, I decided I'd attach a second set of guys at the 6m point (i.e. the bottom of the 7th section), so that rope, and not the pole, takes the brunt of the bending forces.

Just about visible: the new set of guys at the upper end of the loop support, doing their job in a 45mph wind at the time of this photo.

I don't use special guying rings, just the best quality UV-resistant cable ties I can find.  The price of ties has gone up markedly recently, and so buying a proprietary set of rings is more attractive now.  Or, you can always machine your own from nylon or a suitably UV-resistant material.

The result has been to reduce the bending of the top four sections to essentially little more than a quiver in even a force 9 gale.  The very worst winds haven't yet arrived, but I think I'll be happy to let the antenna fly in a 65mph wind.  [UPDATE: it has now survived 66mph gales with ease]

This is the view from the delta's base in gusts of about 45mph with the new guys:
This system is a lot easier to go to sleep with during a severe storm than something just a tad more expensive trying to brave the same weather:

I just hope we don't see a repeat of January 2014, when we saw 109mph one day!