[TowerTalk] Professional attachment hard line to Rohn tower

[Steve Maki]

On commercial towers we use a hoisting grip (one per cable) and a 
shackle (also one per cable) to support the dead weight of the cable, 
and appropriately sized snap-ins all the way down to keep the cables 
from flapping & flopping around too much in the wind. Of course the 
snap-ins have to have a place to snap in to, which is normally a 
*waveguide* ladder (should be called a cable ladder now-days), or 
individual brackets of some sort that have 3/4" holes to accommodate the 
snap-ins. Like *cluster* brackets, *triangles*, *box brackets* 
*T-brackets* or other items like that. And those items have to be 
mounted somehow on tower legs or tower horizontals or tower diagonals.

However, I don't really recommend the snap-ins for ham use on smallish 
towers (up thru R65). It's way overkill and not appropriate in most cases.

The hoisting grip is a good idea, as it fully prevents gradual cable 
slippage which will cause grief at some point. But I'd recommend just 
doing a nice job of taping the cables down the leg(s) or down the middle 
of a face.

Current thinking about common mode currents usually suggest running the 
feedlines (and everything else) up *inside* the tower as a weapon 
against the dark side. I agree with this.

-Steve K8LX

On 07/08/18 16:03 PM, CEPitts wrote:

> Want to attach 1/2" and or 7/8" hard line to Rohn tower specifcally Rohn 
> 55 on one tower face horizontal brace or the tower leg and  want to know 
> if anybody has done this with brackets or some sort of attachments from 
> a 3rd party manufacturer of said brackets or hardware? A search of the 
> Rohn catalog did not seem to reveal any sort of hardware available from 
> them.
> 
> Has anybody else found a source for such a thing and a fairly easy 
> efficient install for running the hard line up the tower? Similar to the 
> neat arrangement we all see on commercial installs such as cell sites, etc.
> 
> I can go with the old standby of 33 tape, black ties wraps etc. however 
> if possible I would like to install the clamping material to hold the 
> hard line securely in place as it goes up the tower and be done with it.
> 
> Thanks Charles K5OF