Has anyone’s Tempest rode out a Tropical Storm or Hurricane? I am most interested in a pole mount reaction. I have a Tempest I want to mount on the east coast of the US that is prone to hurricanes and my concern is how well the pole mount actually holds to a pole in hurricane force winds, something along the lines of Cat 1/2 winds. Much above that and the pole will probably fly away and the mounting won’t matter. If the plastic screw pole mount is not strong enough to hold, then I will either rig a way to bolt the flat mount or rig a safety tether between the Tempest and pole, something I really don’t want to do.
No experience in hurricanes but what many of us do is turn 1 layer of rough tape (shatterton style) on the pole and then screw the mount over it as it has more grip compared to a steel slippery surface.
if you are really worried, why wouldn’t you just drill a hole through the mount and bold it to the pole?
I am more concerned that the unit will slip off the pole under windy conditions and I am not sure drilling into the mount won’t weaken it. The weakest link is the screw connection and if it breaks there, it won’t matter. But sliding off the pole, is a concern at this point in 40 MPH plus sustained winds.
Properly “wrenching down” the compression style fitting is going to keep it secure to at least 90 mph gusts. I have mine on a 1 1/4" SCH 80 galvanized pipe which is too large so I have a bell reducer coupling to 1" NPT. The 1" nipple is threaded where the Tempest mount goes over. It’s survived low grade tropical gusts (45) with no issues whatsoever. The tower and pipe have survived much higher winds from severe thunderstorms (wind gust of 109 mph!) so it ain’t blowing away.
The not positive twist to lock is of concern however but it could be fortitied if one desires.
For my Sky an earlier version of the Tempest in permanent locations I add flashing tape around the bayonet connection between the Tempest and the mount to ensure it remains secure and water tight. For my temporary locations I use silicone tape which is much easier to remove. I use either the flat or pole mount. I had an issue with the Tempest where the bird spike rubber band slipped down ending up resting around the wind gap so I no longer include the bird spikes.
I also wrapped silicone tape all over the pole mount nut down to the pole to reduce wind induced vibrations.
There is a thread on this forum where either a Sky or a Tempest fell off and landed in the water where it remained for months before recovery. Its photographs might show where it failed.
Cheers Ian
I think this https://community.tempest.earth/t/tempest-station-physically-disconnected-from-base-in-storm-blew-away/11910/9 may be the sat-in-the-water thread you had in mind?