"Tom Rauch" <w8ji@contesting.com> wrote:
>> Tower installation is not my area of expertice,but I hope someone can
>> help with a concern I have. The company I work for recently had three
>> guyed towers installed. I noticed that a large portion of the guy
>> wires are actually two pieces that have been joined together. I some
>> cases they are bolted together and in others simply spliced and
>> wrapped together. The installer claims that this is normal, common
>> sense tells me it can't be.
>There are some clamps that can be used to join two sections of
>guylines, but they are special and not commonly used. Look at
>utility wores, and you might see a few examples of these clamps.
>Some are like two flat long plates with multiple bolts, and some are
>like a large solid sleeve.
>
>If the fellow used normal saddle clamps he is lying through his
>teeth.
>
>Splicing just by wrapping is a definite no no. It is not correct, and it
>is very unreliable.
>
>Personally, I've never seen a tower with spliced guy lines w except
>in an emergency repair. It sounds like the fellow is making up
>stories to justify using scrap lengths of line. It certainly is NOT
>normal, and almost certainly is asking for problems. If he did that
>with the guy lines, you can bet he screwed up the rest of the
>installation.
>
>I'd get it inspected by a real professional.
Although it's perfectly feasible to splice guy wires, seeing it
on a commercial tower might make one wonder about the existence
of a PLAN, and hence the competence of the installers.
AFAIK, the only way to safely splice EHS is with Big Grips and
large thimbles, or Nicopress sleeves and large thimbles.
Cable clamps and large thimbles would be OK except you can't
re-tighten them (unless they are low to the ground) after the
clamps have settled.
NOTE: Egg insulators can replace the thimbles of course.
--
Steve K8LX
List Sponsor: Champion Radio Products - We'll be at the Dayton Hamvention
with all of our safety equipment and other products. Stop by booth #559 and
say hi.
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