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Re: [TowerTalk] Re-use cable clamps?

To: "towertalk@contesting.com" <towertalk@contesting.com>
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Re-use cable clamps?
From: Wayne Kline <w3ea@hotmail.com>
Date: Sat, 8 Mar 2014 20:54:04 -0500
List-post: <towertalk@contesting.com">mailto:towertalk@contesting.com>
 Hi Don
    
    In you described tower 127'  Rohn  25-G ,  I assume you have 4 levels of 
Guys  three ways.  I not a big fan of reusing hardware.  even the Bigger  
bodied CROSBY type clamps ( there  the best made IMO )   The ROHN book on 
served ends as described  as ability to maintain cable integrity with the 
clamps remover !!! 
 
 You said you have 18'  segments....   I used 1/4 EHS and guy grips on my two 
100' towers .. I broke the guys up as per ARRL Hand book and a graph by K1TD
 
I used the 39 ft and  58 ft lengths   and I  seem to remember  a few 19' at the 
bottom of the mid level   guys ...    These  extra longer dim   might make it  
more attractive $ wise  to use BIG grips and new  EHS  ?
 
 Roger  on the Doing it your self...   
 
Wayne W3EA 

 
> From: k4kyv@hotmail.com
> To: towertalk@contesting.com
> Date: Sat, 8 Mar 2014 20:44:27 +0000
> Subject: [TowerTalk] Re-use cable clamps?
> 
> This spring I plan to re-guy my tower. The old guy wires, which have been in 
> place since 1981, are getting rusty enough to make me nervous.
> 
> The tower is 25G, 127' tall, base insulated and used as a 160m vertical and 
> support for wire antenna. The guys are broken up every 18' to make them RF 
> transparent through 40m. There are over 100 strain insulators in my guying 
> system! The guy wire segments all have three cable clamps at each 
> termination, plus the ends are served, per the Rohn manual.
> 
> I can re-use the insulators with no problem, but I am wondering about 
> re-using the clamps. They have some surface rust, but don't look nearly as 
> deteriorated as the wire, which is 3/16 EHS. The threads on the u-bolts still 
> look good, and I believe it would take many more years for the bolts or 
> saddles to rust through enough to cause failure.
> 
> Ordering new cable and re-using the old clamps and insulators would be a 
> fraction of the expense of using Phillystran or terminating with Guy Grips. 
> Since I am doing the work myself at my own leisure, the time involved for 
> making up each guy wire using new or used clamps is not an issue. 
> 
> I'd also like to see some opinion on whether or not serving the dead ends 
> following the cable clamps is really worth the trouble. None of the old 
> clamps appear to have loosened up in over 30 years. 
> 
> It's worth noting that I almost lost an eye while assembling the original guy 
> wires and serving the ends. It was a cold day, apparently enough to make the 
> wire brittle, and one of the strands of EHS snapped while I was wrapping it 
> and the 2" long piece hit me smack in the eye. Fortunately, since the broken 
> shard was sharp as a needle, it hit sideways and not end-on. Needless to say, 
> I wore my safety goggles from then on.
> 
> I put the entire tower up myself in 1981, single-handedly, using nothing more 
> than an old Signal Corps leather climbing belt, probably circa Korean War. I 
> have since thrown the belt away, and recently purchased a top quality 
> climbing harness and associated safety equipment. I wouldn't attempt to erect 
> another tower from scratch at this stage of the game, but assembling guy 
> wires on the ground and replacing them one level at a time is a much less 
> ambitious project.
> 
> 
> Don k4kyv                                       
> _______________________________________________
> 
> 
> 
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