[TowerTalk] TowerTalk] Rohn 55 thimbles and turnbuckles

[K7LXC at aol.com]

In a message dated 8/30/2006 5:52:30 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,  
towertalk-request at contesting.com writes:

>  Reviewing the Rohn parts list for a 110? 55G tower  @90-100MPH, I decided 
to
go with ?? EHS for all three levels (actually,  6700lb Phillystran with ??
EHS leaders. Following the parts list, I ordered  3/8? heavy-duty thimbles
(3/8THH) and ??x12? eye-jaw turnbuckles  (1/2TBE&J). Rohn specifies that the
thimble should be one size larger  than the guy diameter. The parts have
arrived, and I?m perplexed to find  that the 3/8? thimbles don?t fit inside
the eye part of the turnbuckles. I  might be able to make them  fit by
flattening the edges of the thimble  a bit (sandwiching it between a piece of
two pieces of flat steel and  hammering the flare out of the edges), but
before I try that, I?d like  opinions on this. I can?t be the first person
who has run into this. It  looks like a shackle would work, but Rohn doesn?t
specify them for 55G  towers. Comments?


    Some folks have written about putting them in a  vise to get them open 
and then reversing the operation to get them closed  again. I've also used a big 
chisel to hammer them apart; a little more mouth  on the thimble won't hurt 
anything. 
 
    Shackles - also known as clevises - are common  devices to go between two 
cable terminations. Sometimes you just need  something to attach something to 
when they won't go together easily by  themselves. My rule of thumb is to use 
a shackle twice the size of the cable;  for 3/16" cable, use a 3/8" shackle. 
Use of shackles is so common that  there isn't a specific spec that I've seen. 
 
Cheers,
Steve     K7LXC
TOWER TECH