[Towertalk] More crankup questions

[k4zzr@bellsouth.net]

>  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