[TowerTalk] Safety line on tower

[Stan Stockton]

Jim,

I installed what you described on my 40m tower in 2006.  The tower is 33 inches on a side and 3" diameter legs.  The tower has a thick piece of angle welded across one face at the top and bottom.  Both have a large, forged eye bolt through a hole in the angle.  3/8" EHS cable is terminated to the eye bolt at the top with a preform.  The bottom has a big turnbuckle.  I like it.

73... Stan, K5GO

> On Jun 18, 2016, at 12:41 AM, Jim Thomson <jim.thom at telus.net> wrote:
> 
> 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 
>  0
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