I use the commercial cable supports for my Rohn65 tower, all coax and
control cables.
I sent this offlist, but here it is again
I've found they are hard to find on the cell tower supplier web sites.
Here is a start
https://www.sitepro1.com/store/cart.php?m=product_list&c=701#cat975
Tessco and other suppliers have them. Hangers, barrel cushions, and
clips are useful search terms.
For foam coax or heliax and tall towers these are the commercial
accessories to prevent coax damage from crush, too much unsupported
hanging weight, or wind movement.
I had no problem opening an account at Valmont or Tessco.
Grant KZ1W
On 10/14/2021 15:26, KD7JYK DM09 wrote:
Had hoped to be able to send a pic, OM, but the list stripped it. I'll
send direct shortly.
Over some thirty years, I've tried all sorts of ways to secure cables to
masts/towers, each and every way, save one, has failed, usually sooner,
rather than later.
Tape, velcro, wire ties/wraps, twist-ties, wire, et cetera, et cetera...
Either the tie fails, or damages the coax, which is worse.
Conditions have ranged from the glaring sun of the desert, to mountain
tops, and on my property, from -25 degrees, to +124 degrees, and winds
to 165+ MPH (fortunately, only once, but 60 is yearly). Rain, hail,
ice, snow, dirt/rock storms, animals (usually wild horses, sometimes
ringtail cats, or raccoons), you name it.
One thing I noticed was "professional" installations use clamps,
something like this:
https://www.voldatech.com/products/feeder-cable-clamps/371.html
This is just an example, there are dozens of types, from small coax to
feedline several inches across.
Not having a source for such things many years ago, I looked at local
hardware stores to see what I could come up with to do the same job. I
came across clamps like this:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/1-1-4-in-2-in-Bronze-Ground-Clamp-5-Pack-C22DBAG1R/202944396
These range in size from ~1" to several inches across. I picked up a
couple dozen that can handle about a 3" pipe.
Now, looking at the pic in the above link, imagine this clamped onto
your mast, or tower, using a clamp of adequate size, then, secured to
each of the long screws (I use two cables on my mast), a clamp like this:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Gardner-Bender-1-2-in-Rubber-Insulated-Clamp-2-Pack-PPR-1550/202875615
The coax is secured within the clamp above, and protected, the clamp
above, secured to the ground clamp, onto the tower.
Additionally, using the bronze ground clamp as a cable clamp, the
single-hole side, the part intended for a ground wire, holds wire rope
for lightning protection. It's a 3-way clamp, coax on one side,
lighting protection on the other! I have two cables that run up the
mast, securely, and isolated, and an air terminal wire rope coming down,
held by the same clamp, to a 10' 3/4 ground rod.
Best yet, the parts are common, inexpensive, and the only thing that has
held up, so far, about a decade, in the worst conditions, without much
of a thought, and a casual glance once or twice a year. So far, NO issues.
I'll send some pics direct shortly, let me know what you think.
Kurt
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