TowerPlan

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TowerPlan

• Fred Hopengarten K1VR
• Eric Scace K3NA

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Typical questions when buildingor changing
antennas

• Is it safe to guy at a different spot than the
  catalog drawing?
• Can I go higher than the manufacturer recommends
  if I use this smaller antenna?
• Can another antenna be added to this tower?
• Is my mast strong enough?
• What problems have I overlooked?

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Answers are expensiveor uncertain

• Hire Professional Engineer.
• Over-design.
• Frank, Tim and Matt do it this way, so it must
  be OK.
• It hasnt fallen over yet, so I can add some
  more.

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Sneak previewTowerPlan software services

• Color graphics, text reports
• Safety margins for all parts of system.
• Deflections, loads, and torques.
• Construction drawings.
• Bill of Materials.
• P.E. dry and wet seal documents (when
  required).

Important for rotators!
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How TowerPlan worksStep 1 Description

• Base guy anchors.
• Tower
• Pick from library of manufactured towers.
• Guy wires insulators.
• Antennas.
• Pick from library of manufactured antennas.
• Describe homebrew antennas.
• Antenna mounts rotators.
• Miscellaneous cable runs, boxes, etc.

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Easy to use

• Extensive dialogs.
• Continuous view of system.

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How TowerPlan worksStep 2 environment

• Select conditions
• Choose the industry standard for the location.
• Select custom wind and ice loads.
• Multiple sets of environmental conditions may be
  included in each analysis.
• Example
• 80 mph wind no ice
• 65 mph wind ¼ radial ice

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How TowerPlan worksStep 3 safety factors

• Separate safety factors for each major part of
  system
• Rotators.
• Antennas.
• Mounts.
• Tower.
• Guys and anchors.
• Allows for progressive failure under extreme
  conditions.

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How TowerPlan worksStep 4 analysis

• Calculating enginefinite element analysis
  (FEA).
• Strain, shear, torque and displacements on each
  element.
• Compare to failure point to determine margin of
  safety.
• Compare margin to target safety margin.

• Wind directions around each antenna tested for
  worst orientation.
• Rotatable antennas aligned to the most severe
  combination for system.
• Wind directions around entire system tested for
  different failure modes.

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How TowerPlan worksStep 5 results

• Graphic display
• Stress, shear, torque, displacement.
• Safety margin relative to target.
• Points of failure.
• Detailed and summary text reports.

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How TowerPlan worksStep 6 iterate

• Modify design
• Correct for failures.
• Optimize choice of materials.
• Re-run analysis.
• Print final design
• Construction diagrams report summary.
• Bill of Materials.

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Making life easierTower antenna libraries

• Pre-described tower sections.
• Pre-described antennas.
• Homebrew antennas can be described and added to
  personal library.
• Black box to the user.
• User picks from list of manufacturer products.
• Product details are not available to user.
• Manufacturer may provide both current and
  historical variations of products.

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How TowerPlan worksNeed dry- or wet-seal
drawings?

• Finalize design with TowerPlan.
• Request sealed drawings on-line.
• Dry seal PDF file e-mailed to you.
• Wet seal TowerPlan prints and ships drawings
  with wet seal.
• P.E. seal chosen appropriate to jurisdiction.

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Observations

• Most hams will work intensively to design a
  system
• but, after design is done, do not make changes
  for months or years.
• Will software be current then?

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Not available in stores! (and dont call 1-800-)

• Web-based service
• Register on-line.
• Description may be done off-line.
• Analysis calculations occur on-line.
• Results may be reviewed off-line.

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Not available in stores! (and dont call 1-800-)

• Benefits
• Current software features bug fixes.
• Current library antennas and towers.
• Not constrained by users CPU speed or memory.
• Eliminates complexity of multi-platform software
  design maintenance.
• Reduces distribution expense.

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Release schedule

• Release 1 software and libraries in development.
• 3Q beta testing.
• 4Q general availability.
• Release 1 will likely contain
• The most popular tower models.
• As many antenna models as we can practically
  gather!

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You can help!Tower or antenna manufacturer?

• Contact us NOW to
• Include your products in the TowerPlan libraries.
• Post links to your web-site.

eric _at_ k3na.org
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You can help!Professional Engineer?

• Contact us to
• Provide seal services for your jurisdiction.
• Receive referrals for custom design work.
• Post links to your web-site.

eric _at_ k3na.org
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You can help!Planning antenna project soon?

• Remind your tower and antenna manufacturer
• Please arrange for your towers/antennas to be
  included in TowerPlan libraries!
• Contact us
• What kind of tower antennas?

eric _at_ k3na.org
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www.TowerPlan.com

• Sleep soundly during storms.
• Build.
• Optimize.
• Analyze.
• Dont guess!

eric _at_ k3na.org