[RFI] Whacking poles with giant hammers

[Tom Rauch]

> in.  The line probably fell after they had been banging on a pole to mount
> their cable TV line.

Probably? If we want to tell people not to tap poles, let's at least keep it
factual. There are enough urban legends already! The real reason NOT to
whack poles is it isn't your pole.

I did consulting work investigating noise for utilities, and we ALWAYS
carried a sledge hammer to tap poles (actually we gave them a pretty damn
hard whack). As a matter of fact, every single investigator I know now and
knew in the past carried a sledge hammer. Most also carried hot sticks to
actually reach up and shake and tug on insulators and hardware. I've never
seen or heard of a wire or hardware falling from any pole because of a
hammer whack, and I doubt anyone else has either. I've seen cars drive up
right up guylines of some pretty rotten poles, I've seen cows push so hard
they snap guy lines. I've watched CATV installers and utility workers shake
poles violently.

It is almost certain that a wire under hundreds of pounds of tension that
hangs in wind, rain, ice, and snow is going to suddenly snap loose from a
hard whack on the bottom of a pole!

Now shaking guy lines and shaking wires is another story entirely. Shaking
can cause all sorts of abnormal stresses. Violent shaking can cause one wire
that hand harmlessly for years might swing into another.

I don't recommend anyone mess around with someone else's property, but
giving  pole a good solid whack while listening to noise is a VERY normal
way to locate trouble on a pole.

73 Tom