[TowerTalk] Tram rope

[Dick Green WC1M]

> Alternately, use an electric winch with a long cord to the 
> control buttons, so the operator can stand well clear of the 
> work zone.

I have an electric capstan winch (the TowerJack model) bolted to the tower
at the base. The capstan requires the operator to pull the excess rope off
the drum in pretty much a straight line from the tower -- right under the
tram. I guess the way around that would be to put a pulley on the tie-off
post (I planted a 4x4 about 20' from the tower for that), and take the rope
off at 90-degrees to the tram. I'd have to add about 30 feet of wire to the
foot switch -- it only has a 10 foot cord now.

Still have the problem of the person operating the tiller. You have to be
under the antenna for that.

> Properly installed wire rope clips are fine, as is a properly 
> installed Nicropress compression fitting.

Probably the subject of another thread, but my understanding is that there's
no way to determine the load rating of a wire rope clip connection.
Apparently, there are no published load ratings. Of course, the Rohn catalog
shows wire rope clips as a method for terminating guy wires, so perhaps
their engineers have the data. 

A guy grip is a lot cheaper than a Nicopress tool. Any reason not to use a
guy grip?

> I would a wire rope clip at the bottom, rather than rely on 
> the Klein grip during the job.  That reduces the number of 
> potential failure points.

I can't agree with that. Klein grips are designed for much heavier loads
than we're talking about. My gosh, many of us routinely use them to tension
our guy wires to 500-1000 lbs or more. If they're not safe for tramming,
they're not safe for tensioning guys. Further, my feeling is that a Klein
grip does a lot less damage to the wire rope than a clip.

Now... Please don't flame me with a bunch of claims in defense of wire rope
clips. I'm not saying they don't work. But I and concerned about the lack of
published load ratings. Also, I've seen wire rope slip when the clips aren't
tightened properly.

73, Dick WC1M