If a tower is shunt-fed, particularly with high power, is this an exception to
your general rule, Steve?
73, Pete N4ZRAt 09:31 AM 9/1/2006, K7LXC@aol.com wrote:
>
>In a message dated 8/27/2006 12:28:30 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
>towertalk-request@contesting.com writes:
>
>> On a Rohn 25/45/55 tower, is it standard practice to run hardline, coax
>and
>control cables up the tower legs inside the tower or outside?
>
> Standard practice is to put them outside and secure them to a leg. The
>only reason I can see for running the cables inside the tower is the possible
>use of the tower as a Farraday shield for lightning protection.
>
> Even doing that does nothing to prevent the lightning transient from
>traveling down the cables into the shack so it would be a waste of time (and
>much energy and colorful colloquialisms) to run them inside the tower without
>adequate building entry grounding.
>
>> Are cable ties the best way to attach the cables?
>
>
> Could be. Some guys like to use 6" pieces of wire to tie the bundle
>together; they're easy to take apart when you want to add or subtract a
>cable.
>
>> Seems like it would be a lot easier to string cables on the outside of the
>tower.
>
> Bingo! I will only run cables inside a tower if the owner holds a gun to
>my head - it's just too much hassle for little or no practical usefulness.
>
>> More specifically, in addition to a fairly large complement of coax (5
>runs)
>and control cables (7 runs), I'm thinking about putting a couple of runs of
>1-5/8" hardline (because that's what I have) up to my stack switch at about
>65'. Seems to me it will be difficult to feed this stuff into the tower and
>it may be better to run it on the outside. Has anyone out there run 1-5/8"
>hardline up a ham tower? How did you do it and how did you attach it to the
>tower?
>
>
>First, you should use a hoisting grip or Kellum grip to pull the cable up -
>it weighs a couple of pounds per foot. It spreads the weight over a large
>area of the cable safely so you don't damage it. Then attach the hoisting
>grip
>to a brace and it'll support the whole weight. Using a hose clamp or two is
>another way to secure it. Then black tie wraps will finish it off. Do not use
>white tie wraps - they're not UV resistant and will fall apart in a year or
>two.
>
>
>Cheers,
>Steve K7LXC
>TOWER TECH
>
>
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