[TowerTalk] Gin Pole

[DavisRFinc@aol.com]

Ref braided Dacron Tm:  I agree with Davd,WA4EMR and Roy, N8YYS, and my
esteemed colleague, Press Jones, N8UG as to this type of rope being the best
for subj application and many other hauling situations.  After having
personally used double braided (vs. single braid) Dacron Tm rope for gin
poles, hauling shingles, and as a support line for my 220 lb. "frame" on roofs
and rock ledges where a safety belt does not apply, and also selling it to
hams, commercials and marine, I can attest to it.  However, let's keep
everything in prospective as well.  My opininion is that one uses at least
5/16" rated from 1200 lbs with a high safety factor to 1700 lbs.  Two reasons
for this:  You (and perhaps several others on the ground) need to "handle " it
which is where the diamater of the rope, and the type of rope (which reflects
slippage and abrasion resistance, Dacron double braided being excellent),
comes to play and secondly, the safety factor.  If you are hauling as big as
R55 at 90 lb./section and it gets "hung up", i.e. affixed solidly, you can be
comfortable that up to 8 or so 200 lb hams (OM's or YL's!!) can be literally
"hanging" on this rope before somebody announces that the section ain't going
upany further up, and you don't worry about breakage.  So, think  of  load
rating and safety factor in terms of the "what if's".   Then think also about
abrasion resistance, particularly in permanently installed situations where
frequent rubbing, or hauling through sheaves, is present.  DOUBLE  braided
Dacron Tm is also excellent for abrasion resistance and for tieing and
untieing various knots, even well into the older ages of the rope left
installed on the structure.  The only time you will have knot untie problems
with various types of non metallic rope is when water freezes the knots.
Regarding U.V. effects, as Press pointed out and has tested, the Synthetic
Textiles double braided Dacron Tm is excellent, as it is treated appropriately
for U.V. resistance.  Hope this is of some help. 73, Steve Davis, K1PEK  
DAVIS RF Co., Commercial wire/cable, RF connectors, custom cable design.
Discounts to hams..........BURY-FLEX ™ low loss HF-microwave HDPE coax;
....FLEX-WEAVE™ aerial wire. Registered trademarks of Davis Associates, Inc. .
.LMR ™, Heliax™, PolyPhaser, etc.  Visit our web site at  www.davisRF.com.
1-800-328-4773
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