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Re: [TowerTalk] Coax for crank-up TX-455

To: towertalk@contesting.com, ogden@us.ibm.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Coax for crank-up TX-455
From: K7LXC@aol.com
Date: Thu, 5 Jul 2007 18:04:55 EDT
List-post: <mailto:towertalk@contesting.com>
 
In a message dated 7/3/2007 10:19:33 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,  
towertalk-request@contesting.com writes:

>  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.
 
    Connections to what? Just curious. 

>  It may be unnecessary. It also provides additional support  for the coaxes
and control cables.  I tape them all together every 2'  or so.



     Umm, interesting. Glad it works for you. In  all my years of tower work 
and working on hundreds of ham stations and  commercial sites and being a UST 
authorized installer, I've never had an  occasion to use dowels or a #10 wire 
on the cables. Seems like a lot of  redundant work to me. Just taping the 
bundle together gives a bunch of stability  to the bundle. 
 
    As long as you're happy with it and it doesn't  cause any potential 
problems, you're good to go. 
 
Cheers,
Steve    K7LXC
TOWER TECH 



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