In a message dated 9/18/2005 9:39:30 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
towertalk-request@contesting.com writes:
K7LXC@aol.com wrote:
>> OF COURSE you want part synthetic and part EHS. The synthetic guy
under
>> tension is easily severed with a razor knife...bye, bye tower. It also
burns
>> easily. You want the last 15' or so to be EHS to the anchor so that
neither of
>> those situations are possible.
> Ideally, yes. I don't require the ideal here. I guess our coyotes and
deer don't like Kevlar, and where do ya all live and who are your
enemies that you have to worry about someone cutting down your tower
with a razor knife?
I'm sure there are critter damage stories but I haven't personally run
across them. I was just trying to point out the potential problems. And there
have been towers lost where a brush fire - got brush? - came through, burned
the
guys at the anchor and down it came. For a little time and money, this
becomes a non-issue.
> If they wanted to do that, wouldn't they be able to
figure out how to cut the EHS too?
Sure - with a hand grinder, cutting torch, or hand tools to dissamble the
termination.
>> Okay. Does any tower or wire rope manufacturer recommend this
technique?
>> No, they don't. Your mistake was to violate the LXC Prime Directive to "DO
>> what the manufacturer says". The converse is also true.
> Well, it's not as catchy, but you really need to amend the Prime
Directive to say "DO what the manufacturer says - If they have proven
themselves to be experts -AND- actually provide detailed instructions."
Okay, here's the distinction - GME is NOT the manufacturer of the
synthetic material, someone else is - they just buy it from them and resell it.
It's
just like some of the cable maintenance info from US Towers vis-a-vis their
crank-ups is contrary to what the actual cable manufacturers say. UST is not
the
manufacturer of the wire rope cable and some of their advice is wrong.
> If memory is accurate, 6 years ago Glen Martin provided one termination
diagram that showed "saddling the dead horse" and no specific treatment
of the end of the dead horse cable end.
Yes, that's true and it was an error. Again, they weren't the
manufacturer.
> I figured that using some tape
to form a taper would be better than nothing.
Nothing is what you wanted.
> It might be the one thing
I didn't ask on the reflector compared with hundreds I did. Duh, I
guess at the time I thought grips were only for EHS, but I see there are
Philly Grips too.
I don't think the synthetic guy material that GME uses is Phillystran or
it would be called that; I don't know who the manufacturer is for this
specific material. Preformed grips are available for Phillystran but no other
synthetic material that I'm aware of.
> So if I use these, won't the ice still accumulate there?
Yes, but then there's nothing to trap water when it melts like wrapping
the joint in tape.
The ice problem with Preformed grips is during thaw the ice can run down
the guys and smash into the top of the grip, potentially unwinding the strands
at the end and working its way down until there's not enough grip left to
hold the guy. There is a Preformed ice cap available that fits over the end of
the strands; some people just use tie wraps to do the same thing. This isn't a
problem with EHS since Phillystran is smooth and there's nothing to prevent the
ice from sliding down the guy. And it really isn't a problem with amateur
towers which are shorter and have relatively short guy lengths; it's when
you've
got a big commercial tower and lots of distance for the ice to build up a
decent head of steam before it hits the grip.
>> Don't feel like the Lone Ranger. A local guy did the same thing 10
years
>> ago or so - the guy broke and the tower came down.
> Thanks. That guy must've had a lot on the tower and some bad WX?
Losing one guy shouldn't drop a tower without some significant provocation.
Everything was fine until a big windstorm came thru - the fatally rusted
termination broke and down she came.
TowerTalk was started back in 1995 to try to keep amateur tower builders
out of trouble. We've got your welfare at heart but in the end it's all your
decison!
Cheers,
Steve K7LXC
TOWER TECH
_______________________________________________
See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless Weather
Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any questions
and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
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