[TowerTalk] Safety line on tower

[Jim Thomson]

Date: Fri, 17 Jun 2016 14:49:59 -0400
From: "Roger (K8RI) on TT" <K8RI-on-TowerTalk at tm.net>
To: towertalk at contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Safety line on tower

I see the convenience. They make climbing a 100' tower sooo much easier. 
No guys to hook and unhook to get around and no continuous hook and 
unhook going up and down.  More time to work "up there" before reaching 
the time to come down as without the safety line the hook and unhook 
uses a lot of energy going up and down.  100 foot  25G and 45G really do 
benefit from having one. Even 50 or 60 feet. Were I younger and still 
making a good wage, I'd have one on my 100' 45G

73,

Roger (K8RI)

##  IF the tower in question  is just a simple guyed OR free standing tower,
with NO tic rings  OR swinging side gates, the install of a safety cable  running the
entire length of the tower should be a simple matter.  I have looked at both the  rohn 
+ the Trylon versions, and some others, and they typ consist of a heavy duty  standoff
steel assy at the top or close to the top of the tower.   The tylon version uses what appears to
be flat spring type steel,  in an upside down U shape,  sorta like leaf spring material, and 
aprx 2-3 inchs wide x 1/4 inch thick.  The  .375 inch OD  EHS cable is terminated to one 
end of the U, with either cable clamps or a single guy grip, + the usual thimble. 

##  Bottom end of the EHS cable terminates to a combo heavy duty spring +   single 
turnbuckle.   The cable itself appears to be spaced aprx  2-6 inchs away from the
tower, usually  dead center on one face of the tower.   The U shaped spring steel
was designed to offer some form of ... gentle shock absorption.  These days, with perhaps
a heavy duty bungee between climbers D ring..and the sliding device, the U shaped spring 
steel  at top of tower could be disposed of. 

## I suspect that in a lot of cases, the heavy duty  spring at the base of the tower could be disposed
of.   One turnbuckle would all that would be required to keep the EHS safety cable  reasonably taut,
and the bottom termination, of course, would have to spaced away from the same tower face 
by a few inches. 

##  What Im getting at here is..... I see no reason the entire assy couldnt be  Home breweded. 
As long as the termination method used at the top of the tower  was 100 % rock solid, bomb proof,
I would not hesitate to use such an assy.   The cost of the EHS cable, proper termination at both ends,
and the sliding safety device itself  would be a minimal, initial investment.   The sliding devices made 
for the safety cable all seem  to be standardized  to use .375 EHS cable.   If joe ham had several 
towers,   only one sliding safety device is required.   Ok,  what I just proposed might not be OSHA
approved, but it would be a helluva better  vs  free climbing....and less  fatiguing vs using 2 x lanyards with
the hook-unhook- hook- unhook  scheme. 

##  Dunno if the sliding action of the slider  will wear out the galvanizing of  EHS cable..or not. Dunno
if  SS  .375 inch winch cable could be substituted..or not.   One would think that  .25 inch  safety cable 
would be ample,  but I suspect that the .375 cable used has a lot more surface area for the slider to 
act upon. 

Jim   VE7RF 
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