In a message dated 8/27/2006 12:28:30 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
towertalk-request@contesting.com writes:
> On a Rohn 25/45/55 tower, is it standard practice to run hardline, coax
and
control cables up the tower legs inside the tower or outside?
Standard practice is to put them outside and secure them to a leg. The
only reason I can see for running the cables inside the tower is the possible
use of the tower as a Farraday shield for lightning protection.
Even doing that does nothing to prevent the lightning transient from
traveling down the cables into the shack so it would be a waste of time (and
much energy and colorful colloquialisms) to run them inside the tower without
adequate building entry grounding.
> Are cable ties the best way to attach the cables?
Could be. Some guys like to use 6" pieces of wire to tie the bundle
together; they're easy to take apart when you want to add or subtract a cable.
> Seems like it would be a lot easier to string cables on the outside of the
tower.
Bingo! I will only run cables inside a tower if the owner holds a gun to
my head - it's just too much hassle for little or no practical usefulness.
> More specifically, in addition to a fairly large complement of coax (5
runs)
and control cables (7 runs), I'm thinking about putting a couple of runs of
1-5/8" hardline (because that's what I have) up to my stack switch at about
65'. Seems to me it will be difficult to feed this stuff into the tower and
it may be better to run it on the outside. Has anyone out there run 1-5/8"
hardline up a ham tower? How did you do it and how did you attach it to the
tower?
First, you should use a hoisting grip or Kellum grip to pull the cable up -
it weighs a couple of pounds per foot. It spreads the weight over a large
area of the cable safely so you don't damage it. Then attach the hoisting grip
to a brace and it'll support the whole weight. Using a hose clamp or two is
another way to secure it. Then black tie wraps will finish it off. Do not use
white tie wraps - they're not UV resistant and will fall apart in a year or
two.
Cheers,
Steve K7LXC
TOWER TECH
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