[TowerTalk] wrapping a big grip on phillystran

[Jerry K]

You'll love working with this stuff, once you've done one or two P-grips 
it's a piece of cake. Be sure to spring for quality tape. Being an ex-Ma 
Bell guy I heartily recommend Scotch All-Weather 88T for long life out 
in the elements, Mouser sells it in 1" width for $26 per 10-pack. Some 
clubs buy 88T by the gross and get it much cheaper that way. And Terry 
brought up a good point about P-grips and EHS grips being wound 
different directions. Luckily I bought my EHS grips from Texas Towers, 
and the Philystran and matching P-grips from Burqhart, otherwise I might 
have gotten them mixed up myself.

Having done the zillion-egg-insulator thing with heavy, springy, 
unwieldy EHS before, I was a happy guy after I got my hands on 
Phillystran. It's good stuff, unless you WANT resonance in your guys.

Jerry W5KP



Steve Litwins wrote:
> rrrrr...I have the grip for the Philly...the sandy ones.  I got from 
> TTs and they supplied all the correct hardware.  Now...all I gotta do 
> is go do it. As it's my first time with any kinda grip I am working in 
> the dark with absolutely no experience and no visual to back that up 
> except w3yy's great fotos.  So...here we go.  Will try and let the 
> group know what my experience was after done and installed.  Thanks 
> again to all who replied with such understanding and detail!  73/dx
> steve, k8wk
> **********
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jerry K" <w5kp at hughes.net>
> To: "Tower Talk" <towertalk at contesting.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2008 6:07 AM
> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] wrapping a big grip on phillystran
>
>
>> I'm throwing this in because I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere in
>> this thread, and it could be very important if it's still true. As of 7
>> years ago (Phillystrans' mfr might have changed things since then), EHS
>> grips and Phillystran grips were definitely NOT the same. When I put up
>> my tower, P-grips were "special" in that they had a very rough
>> sandpaper-like coating embedded in the galvanizing (seemed to be about
>> 36 grit or so) on the inside, and came with soft UV-resistant plastic
>> caps for the open ends to prevent jacket damage. The plastic-capped ends
>> were wrapped with Scotch 88T upon installation. The standard EHS grips I
>> purchased were smooth on the inside and came with the usual cast metal
>> "drive-on" end caps. In the literature that came with the cable,
>> Phillystran cautioned (in big bold capital letters) that standard EHS
>> grips must NOT be used on Phillystran. I don't know if this was because
>> of special requirements for sizing, or because EHS grips might slip on
>> the Phillystran's jacket. Given the "non-slip" coating inside the
>> P-grips, I suspect the latter. I also don't know if this caution is
>> applicable the other way around, but I suppose using P-grips on EHS
>> might damage the EHS's galvanized coating, leading to rust. At any rate,
>> at the time the two types of grips were most certainly not the same.
>>
>> Secondly, it appears from Roger's writeup that he didn't install EHS
>> "tails" on his Phillystran guys. Running Philly all the way to the
>> ground seems to be leaving a needless opportunity for Murphy. A grass
>> fire, a tractor with a brush hog, a large riding mower, or (more likely
>> these days) a malicious kid with a pocket knife could very easily take
>> out one or all of the guys and take down the tower. Following the
>> recommendation of Phillystran folks, I ran Phillystran down to within
>> about 15' of the anchor end, at which point 3/16" EHS took over from
>> there to the anchor turnbuckle. At the meeting point of the two
>> different guys I simply used back-to-back thimbles--the upper one
>> wrapped with a special Phillystran grip and the lower one wrapped with a
>> standard EHS grip.
>>
>> Phillystran is hell for stout in tension, light as a feather, and I
>> loved using it as much as I hate using EHS. It was worth every penny and
>> more. Seven years in the air and when I took it down mine still looked
>> like new. But take a healthy swipe at a piece of scrap Phillystran with
>> a sharp pocket knife and you'll see why the above was recommended at the
>> time by the Phillystran manufacturer. Assuming you run Philly all the
>> way to the top as I did, it's also another reason to be danged careful
>> swinging heavy metal objects around up there and banging them up against
>> the top end of the guys. If all that's changed somebody please say so.
>> 73, Jerry W5KP
>>
>>
>> Roger (K8RI) wrote:
>>> I'm going to answer this on the group as a number asked this question.
>>> I hope I get this straight. It 's easier to do than to describe
>>> properly. <:-))
>>>
>>> I calculated and cut to length the guys needed plus a couple feet extra
>>> on each one.  I  had planned on using an EHS tie to the anchor so if I
>>> missed the length by a couple of feet I could correct the problem by
>>> cutting the EHS to fit.  EHS lengths vary from about 10 to 14 feet.
>>> (What ever was needed)
>>> I installed the Big Grip (TM) on the end that would go on the tower.
>>> The excess on the other end was wound around an anchor such as a tree,
>>> or was driven in the yard. Sometimes a thimble will help here even 
>>> if it
>>> has to be over size.  The end that went in the Big Grip was gripped 
>>> by a
>>> double "cam lock" like the kind used for gripping fence wire when
>>> stretching it (only larger). I think it was only about $3 or $4 at the
>>> local ACE hardware store.   I don't have any photos of the procedure.
>>>
>>> I hooked a "comealong" to the cam lock and put the guy under about 400#
>>> tension. Then installed the Big Grip according to the instructions.  
>>> The
>>> most difficult part was finding, or creating two anchor points the
>>> correct distance apart although I did have a 20' Comealong as well as a
>>> 20' log chain which gave me 40 feet of leeway. This was the point where
>>> I discovered all that steel in my welding bench may weight half a ton,
>>> but 400# or tension easily skids it across the floor. <:-))
>>>
>>> When winding a Big Grip became a problem I used a BIG screwdriver as a
>>> lever to easily get the wrap to conform. (One turn at a time...per
>>> side). Some times at the very end it was one wire at a time.
>>>
>>> Yes, they work very much like the "Chinese Handcuffs". The pretension
>>> when wrapping gives a better grip. I've never had one come loose, but
>>> they are not normally reusable. If one has to be redone within about a
>>> week it can be done once.  The instructions give the specifics on that
>>> and I don't remember. My copy is out in the shop, but they are 
>>> available
>>> on line.
>>>
>>> 73
>>>
>>> Roger (K8RI)
>>>
>>>
>>>
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