On 2/22/2012 8:29, RogerN wrote:
My most immediate use will be to tension the guy wires on the antenna tower
I'm preparing to put up and later hopefully to do tests on construction of a
homemade crane. I'd like to verify/test my force calculations to keep the
design factor correct.

Isn't the normal way to measure tension of wires by attaching a
gauge to measure the elastic deformation (increase of length by unit
length) of the wire by the force? Basically a long caliper attached
to the wire say 30cm apart.. Same is used to measure tension of band
saw blades too.