I use a CLOVE HITCH (or two) to connect
my TRAM Line to my mast, allowing the tram
pulley to come right up to the mast. The end
of the line can be looped back to the active
part of the tram line as a 'safety' just in case
the clove hitch slips. Note: I've NEVER had a
clove hitch slip.
Tom N4KG
On Sat, 5 Oct 2002 K7LXC@aol.com writes:
> Greetings, TowerTalkians --
>
> As most of you know, I do professional tower work. One thing I
> learned
> from my days of commercial work with crews and trucks on the road is
> that if
> you've got a job with 3 riggers, they'll come up with 3 different
> ways of
> doing it. Is one better than another? Probably not.
>
> The difference between professional riggers and hams is that
> hams
> typically have to conjure up a solution to most tower construction
> problems;
> i.e. how do you pull a guy wire tight, how do you get a big mast
> installed,
> how do you get a tower section to fit another one, etc.
>
> My observation is that amateurs tend to make something more
> complicated
> than it really is. I am a BIG fan of carabiners and nylon slings for
> just
> about everything. Carabiners are aluminum snap links with
> spring-loaded gates
> and can be put on most anything with one hand in about half-a-second
> and
> they're pretty strong. They are vastly superior to a shackle/clevis
> where you
> have two pieces where one may accidentally be dropped, it takes two
> hands to
> install one, and it takes some time to install.
>
> Nylon loop slings can be used to attach just about any
> irregularly shaped
> piece that doesn't have a convenient carabiner attachment point -
> slinging a
> boom for lifting, putting a choker on a mast, lifting tower
> sections
> vertically, etc. Why use a U-bolt that has four pieces and takes
> effort,
> tools and time to put on when you can sling something in a couple of
> seconds?
>
> For example, I use a nlyon sling choked around the mast on the
> top of the
> tower for the attachment point for the tramline and haul line when
> tramming
> antennas up and down. The latest scheme I saw was a piece of angle
> iron with
> TWO U-bolts to the mast and another hanging down for the tram/rope
> attachment
> point - a nine-piece device - yikes. It must've taken ten-fifteen
> minutes to
> install this device - a sling is about 30 seconds.
>
> Then you have to attach the tramline so there was a medium-sized
> snap
> link to do that. Then the tramline had about a six-inch termination
> on it.
> What's wrong with this picture? The Second LXC Law of Tower and
> Antenna
> Construction is that: "No matter how you rig something, by the time
> it gets
> up to the top of the tower you're always an inch or two short of
> where you
> need to be". In this case when the haul line locked in the pulley,
> the
> antenna was still about a FOOT away from the mast. Ye gads - what do
> you do
> NOW?!? You need to make everything as compact and short as possible;
> i.e. use
> a bowline knot because it's pretty small, attach the tramline and
> haul line
> pulley as close to the mast as you can, use a minimum of hardware,
> etc.
>
> I'm getting more upset with antenna manufacturers that still use
> U-bolts
> with saddles for mast attachment. You ever wrestle a 40M beam that
> was
> hanging off-balance and you had to align the U-bolt with the
> boom-to-mast
> plate in a wind? What a pain in the ass. The F12 plate is MUCH
> better as is
> the Bencher. Manufacturers - use a little time and imagination to
> IMPROVE
> this important fixture.
>
> These same manufacturers haven't woken up either to the fact
> that
> elements SHOULD NOT be mounted on TOP of the boom! What a stupid
> idea - now
> it's TOP-HEAVY. You ever have a KLM or M2 or Mosley antenna turn
> turtle (go
> upside-down) on you while you were trying to take it down or put it
> up?!? A
> pox on these antenna manufacturers.
>
> Make it simple and make it safe and you'll save yourself hours
> of
> frustration and an endless stream of colorful colloquialisms.
>
> BTW carabiners and slings are available from <A
> HREF="http://www.championradio.com";>www.championradio.com</A>.
>
> Cheers,
> Steve K7LXC
> TOWER TECH --
> Professional tower services for commercial and amateur
> _______________________________________________
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>
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