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[Towertalk] More crankup questions

To: <towertalk@contesting.com>
Subject: [Towertalk] More crankup questions
From: k4zzr@bellsouth.net (k4zzr@bellsouth.net)
Date: Thu, 10 Oct 2002 2:11:41 -0400
 
>  Forget the coax arms.  Just stand-off the coax at the top about three feet
> and let it "hang" to the bottom....again....no problem for three years.  The
> bundle of RG-8, and two rotor and switch box control lines support their own
> weight with no "carrier cable" which others have used.  My tower is cranked
> down except when QRV so it goes up and down many times every week....no
> problem the coax bundle just piles up on the ground.

I've got the coax arms and like them fine..they keep the cables from blowing 
around.  Like you, I allowed the coax to pile up on the ground when I cranked 
down the tower, but I didn't like it.  I was afraid my dog would chew the coax 
or the kids would stumble over it while playing.  I didn't want to tape it to 
the coax standoffs either.  So, I cranked the HDX-555 tower all the way up and 
used an extension ladder to reach the top of the bottom section of the tower 
where I taped the coax to a tower leg.  I used split tubing over the coax which 
not only protects it, but keeps the coax from bending sharply as it comes down. 
 Works like a charm, and now when I crank down the tower, the coax just hangs 
and stays off the ground.  I also used 3/4" split tubing around the coax from 
where it leaves the beam and down to where it attaches to the top coax arm 
(with a loop for rotation} at the top of the tower.  This takes most of the 
pressure off the coax and prevents any sharp edges on the tower from damaging 
the coax as the rotator turns.  

73,
David, K4ZZR


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