Guyed tower maintenance and questions.

[Sunray-Skip]

So I ended up purchasing a property that has two radio towers on it.
Tower one is 135ft with pole at the top that can be raised and lowered that adds approximately 40ft, giving a total height of 175ft
Tower two is 90ft with pole at the top that can be raised and lowered that adds approximately 20ft, giving a total height of 110ft.
I have lots of questions:

Please label any answers to questions with the specific number.

1. How do I check for the tower manufacturer? I'm assuming there's a tag (somewhere), where would one usually find this?

2. The tower and guys are galvanized steel. Some of the turn buckles are exhibiting corrosion. (Pic:

https://imgur.com/a/uNAWPWW

) . Should these be replaced or can they just be coated with cold gal?

3. The guys all have ceramic insulators dividing the guys into sections. Some of the sections are exhibiting corrosion like the above turn buckles. Should these be replaced or can they just be coated with cold gal? If they can be coated with cold gal, how does one go about doing that?

4. How does one check for correct guy tension?

5. When running coax on a tower like these, do you need to use cable hangers? Can the cable simply be cable tied or taped in place with electrical tape? The hangers really get in the way when climbing using a positioning lanyard.

6. Unfortunately, the towers were stripped of coax by a previous owner, but in one of the out buildings I discovered some additional cable. One reel is marked "CPH Amphenol RG-17/U". (Pic:

https://imgur.com/a/5s0xt1w

)This looks to be quite old. Never heard of this type of coax. What is it?

7. The other is marked "1992 Comm/scope Inc" and then a ft. measurement. (Pics: Imgur: The magic of the Internet ) Is this one suitable for radio use? What is it?

8. Both towers are grounded, but neither has a specific lightning rod. Should I add one? I'm assuming it needs to be higher than any antennas on the tower? What gauge copper should be used for the wire from this to ground?

9. What is a suitable resistance reading (using a clamp-on ground tester) for the ground rod to earth? I've heard 25 ohms or less.

10. Is there any other periodic maintenance that needs to be done on towers like these?

11. Any other useful info I should know?

 

[prcguy]

Try your best to find the mfr then get detailed maintenance info from them. You can buy a guy wire tension tester but they can be quite pricy new. A clamp on ground resistance meter is not bad at a couple hundred $$. Below is a picture of the one I use and I'm very happy with it. The goal for ground resistance is 5 ohms or less. Its best to have a lightning rod (air terminal) with dedicated large ground wire to the ground rods. This will help reduce large currents from flowing through the tower joints and bolts if it gets hit. All the air terminals where I worked used 500MCM bare stranded copper wire from the air terminals to the ground system which also used 500MCM size for the ground ring and between all ground rods. Its big and expensive wire.

If your antennas stick up higher than the air terminal then they are the air terminals and you deal with grounding the highest one like an air terminal. Grounding antennas is a separate and complex topic. Otherwise the basic tower maintenance I've seen is looking for rust and addressing it immediately, checking guy wire tension and ground resistance as you have mentioned, keeping up with paint and checking/replacing flashing lights on a regular basis.

The amount of rust on your turnbuckles looks only cosmetic but could cause a problem seizing up the threads if you had to adjust them. I would use a wire brush and remove as much as possible then if you can find a way to submerge them in liquid, ZEP Calcium, Lime and Rust remover available at Home Depot is the best rust remover I've found and its cheap. You have to keep the item submerged for a couple of hours and swish it around occasionally then rinse well when done. For protecting bare metal from future rust there is a wax based protectant you can spray on and it won't interfere with threads later. I don't remember the mfr but it was provided by big satellite dish mfrs to protect exposed metal parts after the dishes were installed and it works well. Cold Gal is used more to cover fresh galvanizing that is chipped and not that great over rust and I would not spray it on threads.

 

[merlin]

This sounds like a very old cable TV head end site.
Answers:
1> Rarely there will be a tag spot welded to any base plate or stamped in the sleve at the top section. Usually it is guesswork based on construction and dimentions.
2>Turnbuckles so bad they cannot be adjusted should be replaced. Any broken strands in the wire rope, guy wires need to be replace.
3> Any cracks or broken insulators, those need to be replaced.
4> They make a tool just for that purpose.
5> Towers that high, coax support brackets are highly recommended.
6> That is very old, but quality coax, 75 ohm commonly used in cable TV industry.
7> The comescope is also 75 ohm, semi rigid such as used for cable trunk runs.
8> the towers would certainly be grounded, no lightning rod or arrestor needed.
Do check the ground wire forbad corrosion and replace if needed.
9> That largely depends on the soil resistance at the site. A proper copper clad ground rod, clamp and 14 gage copper wire to the towers will meet all specs.
10>Other than commercial or industrial use, it is the call of the owner.
"by the book" Once per year a full inspection and guy tension should be done.
11> Without knowing your intended us and types of antennas you plan to install, there is really nothing to add.
(If only I could find a similar deal )

 

[mmckenna]

For protecting bare metal from future rust there is a wax based protectant you can spray on and it won't interfere with threads later. I don't remember the mfr but it was provided by big satellite dish mfrs to protect exposed metal parts after the dishes were installed and it works well.

LPS #3?

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

Auto body repairmen use "cavity wax" from 3M to protect areas that cannot be painted, like inside of welded repairs on a rocker panel or body piller.

https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/collision-repair-us/featured-products/cavity-wax-plus/

 

[mmckenna]

From some old documents I have, RG-17a is a 52Ω cable, 0.87 inches in diameter. Pasternack has connectors for it.

 

[prcguy]

LPS #3?

That looks like it.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

If this is a tubular tower (most are), I would be inspecting the section just above the concrete footer for corrosion. Most starts from inside which is insidious and occurs because weep holes are blocked or missing. The tubing may also split due to ice forming inside. Also check the tubing at each level especially where sections are coupled.

Publication TIA222 Rev H or later is the document, the bible for tower structures. I think they may have a section on inspection or an annex going into detail.

 

[merlin]

From some old documents I have, RG-17a is a 52Ω cable, 0.87 inches in diameter. Pasternack has connectors for it.

I guess my info from Amphenol is too old and obsolete. All I could find was Mil Spec and no doubt different cable.