It uses a thimble, and 4 clamps. I don't understand "if the cable is
just placed under either the U-bolt or saddle". AFAICS, there is no
other way to use saddle clamps than to place both sides of the cable
between the saddle and the u-bolt.
Too late for advice on tension, this has been up for 5 years. ;->
I'm familiar with "Don't saddle a dead horse".
Mike NF4L
Roger (K8RI) wrote:
>
>
> Mike wrote:
>> My 4L SteppIR uses small diameter Phillystran as a bridle for the
>> boom, clamped with saddle clamps. I have the antenna on the ground,
>> and was going to replace the saddle clamps with stainless steel ones.
>>
>> When I took off the old clamps, the 'stran is crushed absolutely flat
>> where the U-bolt side bore on it. It appears as tho there is nothing
>> in the jacket. The jacket isn't broken, only flat.
>>
>> Is the Philly cut or broken, or is that much crush normal? It doesn't
>> seem like a good idea to breach the jacket to have a look-see.
>>
>
> The core of Phillystran is Kevlar (IIRC) and is made up of many fine
> strands. When clamped that allows the jacket to flatten or distort
> considerably without a great deal of loss in strength. OTOH any time
> you flatten a cable it loses some strength that varies widely between
> materials. The black jacket is purely weather proofing as Kevlar is
> affected by water and Ultraviolet light.
>
> Using saddle clamps doesn't sound like a good way to attach the boom
> truss if the cable is just placed under either the U-bolt or saddle.
> I'm assuming you are using the small (1200# test) cable. That is
> normally terminated by using a thimble and three cable clamps. Use
> sufficient tension on the cable clamps, but not enough to damage the
> Phillystran. Don't crank the nuts down tight like you would on steel
> cable. Proper tension on the clamps will still noticeably distorte
> the cable. That's why they use 3 with less tension instead of 1 or 2
> that are tightened down more. Remember the U-bolt" clamps on the
> "dead side" while the saddle clamps on the side with tension.
>
> 73
>
> Roger (K8RI)
>> 73, Mike NF4L
>>
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