Handling and Bend Diameter of Fathom Tether

Blue Robotics Products
1

In specs for new Fathom Tether it lists a minimum bend diameter of 8 inches and I am wondering how critical this is?

With our std CAT5 tether we have been storing/deploying it on/from a rectangular frame made of 1" PVC and it has held up. If we wind the new tether on this frame I do the 8" bend diameter will not be enforced. How have you been / how do you recommend hand storing/deploying the new tether. Does the strength member and construction of the new tether help prevent bending the tether too tightly?

Also we were thinking of building some sort of spool for the tether - do you think we could go tighter than the 8 inch diameter if there is low tension and a limited no. of cycles?

Please let me know what you know about the ruggedness and use of the new thether.

Thanks and best regards,

Paul

 

2

Hi Paul,

I believe the 8" bend diameter is very conservative. I think you could go quite a bit tighter without any risk of damage unless you are bending it many times and could fatigue the cable. For instance, we bend it with 1.5" diameter around the cable thimble to hold it securely and we’ve never had a problem with that.

The tension of the wire will probably prevent it winding on a 1" spool, but something around 3-4" minimum would probably work great.

Best,

Rusty