I have the same combination: TX-455, 3-element SteppIR; also Ham-IV
rotator, a terminated inverted V (a few feet below the top) and a
half-sloper (at top of second section). I let the coaxes and control
cables simply drop through the cable guides. They need a little help in
laying out neatly while cranking down the tower.
I do two extra steps: (1) I ran a strong #10 wire (Home Depot) down the
same guides and tape all the cables and wire together, (2) I have a 10"
dowel proped in the top guide (using a cross member larger than the coax
guide hole) and I tape the cables along the length of the dowel, with some
cable slack above the dowel. This reduces the strain at single cable points
at the top of the tower and prevents sharp bends at the top. Has worked OK
for several years.
The #10 wire is attached to the tower at the top and bottom, on the theory
that the sliding joints and steel cables may not have the best connections.
It may be unnecessary. It also provides additional support for the coaxes
and control cables. I tape them all together every 2' or so.
Loading the tower on 160 and 80 (via the half sloper) sorta works -- SWR is
reasonable (~ 3:1); gets out OK, but is not a good receiving antenna. Loads
better on 40, but I also have the SteppIR 30/40 element, which is much
better.
Bill - W2WO
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