In a message dated 98-03-15 11:48:09 EST, frenaye@pcnet.com writes:
> The guys (hams) recounted a tower north of here about 15 miles in
> Shapleigh ME, 300' high, that had ice covering the guy wires 8-10" across.
> The ice melted and slid down the guys, and when it did it unwrapped the
> preformed guy grips and straightened out the strands on the wire. By some
> miracle, the tower stood, but they had to replace all the guy wires. The
> guy showed me some pictures to back up his story.
Preformed has what they call an end sleeve but is commonly referred to as
an ice cap. It is a small tapered sleeve where the little end is on the guy
wire and the bigger end goes over the end of the Preform grip. They're easy to
apply and their purpose is just what you described - that is, to keep ice from
getting under the grip strand ends and lifting (and unwinding) them.
There are other products (the Ice Knocker comes to mind) that are bigger
cones/devices that go over the guy wire and are supposed to shed any ice
coming down the guywire.
I think that amateur guys that are broken up by insulators could only
suffer minimal damage. When you've got a big unbroken guy wire to a tall
tower, you can imagine the potential for ice damage. Under those conditions,
you don't want any wind either.
73, Steve K7LXC
TOWER TECH -- professional tower supplies and services for amateurs
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