[BULK] - Re: [TowerTalk] Tower Installation

[Steve Katz]

> Dave I do my crank-up tower very much the same way you described. I've
> always worried about the weight of the cable causing damage to itself.
> What
> do you think.
> 
> Julio, W4HY
> 
> ::Unless the tower's very tall, the cables shouldn't weigh much.  RG213/U
> type cable is 1 lb per 10', so a 70' straight drop should weigh 7 lbs per
> cable.  If you have 5 cables tied together, that's 35 lbs for the bundle,
> still not much.  The real stress occurs when the freefalling cable blows
> in a strong wind, so it can flap around a bit; worse stress occurs if it's
> covered with ice and then that happens.  I don't like my cables coming all
> the way to the ground for a variety of reasons, so I tie them off to the
> tower several feet above ground and then run them away from there.
> Although I now live where it never freezes, I used to live in the
> Northeast, where I learned my lesson about this...cables coiled on the
> ground before it snows and sleets and ices up can end up being trapped
> there a long time.  More than once I've had to pour hot water on a lot of
> snow and ice to free them up and allow tower protraction....-WB2WIK/6