Balls on transmission lines

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electrics

Senior Member
Hi, what is the purpose of balls on transmission lines ? here is a link but i am not sure..
İs it related to the helicopters or about wind vibration or what?
 
Hameedulla-Ekhlas

Hameedulla-Ekhlas

Senior Member
Location
AFG
electrics said:
Hi, what is the purpose of balls on transmission lines ? here is a link but i am not sure..
İs it related to the helicopters or about wind vibration or what?
Click to expand...


Some say they are to warn pilots of the presence of the lines, but this
makes no sense at all. I've seen them on lines in the city, no where near
an airport, and if either fixed wing or helicopters were flying low enough
to be concerned about those lines, they've got more than the lines to
worry about. Plus, they are they spaced so far apart that their placement
would leave quite a few miles of line NOT marked to warn pilots.

1- for aircraft. It is surprising where they might be placed for
things such as a helicopter approach to a hospital or even parks where an
emergency medical pickup may be made.

2- in some areas devices (though not usually red ones) are placed
on wires that are subjected to strong winds and may fail due to harmonic
vibrations. This is usually where there is a longer stretch of wire between
poles. The goal is to dampen the vibration. Have you seen the film of the
Tacoma Narrows Bridge that ripped itself apart vibrating in a wind?

My understanding is that it is used to reduce a vibrational wind effect,
called aeolian harp, that can create resonant and even distructive
vibrations along the wire. These globes are usually placed on the wire in
windy areas or where there is a long distance between towers, and
significant sag. I have seen in most often on major transmission lines in
the plains where there is a slight rise or dip in the terrain.
 
augie47

augie47

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Tennessee
Occupation
State Electrical Inspector (Retired)
In this area the transmission lines seem to attract the hang glider sportsmen and those balls seem to help as warnings.
 
mivey

mivey

Senior Member
Hameedulla-Ekhlas said:
Some say they are to warn pilots of the presence of the lines, but this
makes no sense at all. I've seen them on lines in the city, no where near
an airport, and if either fixed wing or helicopters were flying low enough
to be concerned about those lines, they've got more than the lines to
worry about. Plus, they are they spaced so far apart that their placement
would leave quite a few miles of line NOT marked to warn pilots.

1- for aircraft. It is surprising where they might be placed for
things such as a helicopter approach to a hospital or even parks where an
emergency medical pickup may be made.

2- in some areas devices (though not usually red ones) are placed
on wires that are subjected to strong winds and may fail due to harmonic
vibrations. This is usually where there is a longer stretch of wire between
poles. The goal is to dampen the vibration. Have you seen the film of the
Tacoma Narrows Bridge that ripped itself apart vibrating in a wind?

My understanding is that it is used to reduce a vibrational wind effect,
called aeolian harp, that can create resonant and even distructive
vibrations along the wire. These globes are usually placed on the wire in
windy areas or where there is a long distance between towers, and
significant sag. I have seen in most often on major transmission lines in
the plains where there is a slight rise or dip in the terrain.
Click to expand...
Hameedulla-Ekhlas,

I have noticed you spend a lot of time copying and pasting stuff you find on the internet. It would be more helpful if you would restrict your input to your own expertise or opinion. I have noticed at times that you post things that may not make sense. Remember, the internet is an un-moderated forum and full of junk information. Don't believe everything you read.

Take the time to evaluate what you read and do not just post them as your own words. It is OK to agree with something you find, but take the time to put your own thought into it.

If you want to just post what someone else has said, indicated that by stating the source and/or putting the statements in quotes. Outside of that it is just plagiarism.

In this case, you just posted some chatter from a chat site that was less than useful IMO.

Here is how you could have posted the stuff you found as a link, a quote, or both:

From http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/gen99/gen99947.htm

Red Ball on Lines

name Todd G.
status educator
age 40s

Question - What is the purpose of the red balls you see on long
distance transmission lines?
-------------------
Some say they are to warn pilots of the presence of the lines, but this
makes no sense at all. I've seen them on lines in the city, no where near
an airport, and if either fixed wing or helicopters were flying low enough
to be concerned about those lines, they've got more than the lines to
worry about. Plus, they are they spaced so far apart that their placement
would leave quite a few miles of line NOT marked to warn pilots.

So, what are they there for?
-------------------------------
Todd -

First guess... for aircraft. It is surprising where they might be placed for
things such as a helicopter approach to a hospital or even parks where an
emergency medical pickup may be made.

Second guess... in some areas devices (though not usually red ones) are placed
on wires that are subjected to strong winds and may fail due to harmonic
vibrations. This is usually where there is a longer stretch of wire between
poles. The goal is to dampen the vibration. Have you seen the film of the
Tacoma Narrows Bridge that ripped itself apart vibrating in a wind?

Just thoughts.

Larry Krengel
=========================================================
My understanding is that it is used to reduce a vibrational wind effect,
called aeolian harp, that can create resonant and even distructive
vibrations along the wire. These globes are usually placed on the wire in
windy areas or where there is a long distance between towers, and
significant sag. I have seen in most often on major transmission lines in
the plains where there is a slight rise or dip in the terrain.

---Nathan A. Unterman
=========================================================
Click to expand...
 
mivey

mivey

Senior Member
ty said:
They have numerous purposes.
Some of the basics are:

Approach to runway
Where lines cross bodies of water
migratory bird travel way
Click to expand...
I've never thought about the birds. I just assumed they could see them. But I guess in mass they could get distracted.
 
mivey

mivey

Senior Member
electrics said:
Some say it has to do with wind vibration...
Click to expand...
The dampers for wind vibration look different. The ones we use look like two small oblong balls on opposite ends of a stick. The assembly is hung parallel to the line. I guess from the ground you could say the big balls appear about softball/basketball size but the vibration dampers would appear like peanuts/half-thumbs at arms length, relatively speaking.

Some of the cable itself also has vibration-dampening properties.
 
Hameedulla-Ekhlas

Hameedulla-Ekhlas

Senior Member
Location
AFG
yes, ofcourse when there are some new questions, I search in internet or books to find information and I share that with you all.

Our purpose is only to find and learn question. I really search always internet to find information and reading books.
 
Hameedulla-Ekhlas

Hameedulla-Ekhlas

Senior Member
Location
AFG
searching in internet and reading books for quesiton really make me to find more information and learn.

My only purpose is to learn and find.
 
T

ty

Senior Member
Location
3rd Rock from the Sun
mivey said:
I've never thought about the birds. I just assumed they could see them. But I guess in mass they could get distracted.
Click to expand...

My answer comes from when I learned Linework. It was in a Lineman Textbook that explained where and when these 'balls' should be placed.

Problem is, I don't have the book, or remember the name anymore.

It also wasn't clear if the balls were to keep migratory birds from hitting the lines, or to make aircraft aware of the bird's flight path so they can keep an eye out and not hit the birds.
I always thought the latter made more sense.

and, the balls are quite large. Much larger than a basketball. 24-36"dia depending.

And yes, alot of the wikipedia answers are from people speculating with no real understanding or learning. Just people commenting on what they read on another forum.
I will try to research my answer more thoroughly.
 
mivey

mivey

Senior Member
Hameedulla-Ekhlas said:
searching in internet and reading books for quesiton really make me to find more information and learn.

My only purpose is to learn and find.
Click to expand...
But take the time to study and evaluate what you read. I noticed in a different thread you quoted particular excerpts from a work but did not take the time to read through to find out it was not supporting what you were saying.

I know there is a lot of info out there but don't just do a bunch of drive-by reading. Quality is better than quantity. Take the time to study the material.

You can't learn everything at once. It will take years, but don't be such a fast learner that you allow yourself to be filled with misconceptions. There is a difference between just accepting what someone says and having enough understanding yourself to evaluate what they say and determine if it sounds reasonable.

Just trying to keep you from falling into a trap. Learn to think for yourself and be able to learn beyond what you read. I find many people get bound by what they know or have been told and are unable to "think beyond the box". I see it here from time to time, even among some of those I consider to be very smart.

Don't just stimulate the memorization part of the brain but give equal or more time to the reasoning part of the brain. If you don't do that, you kill your creative thinking and problem-solving abilities. Don't find yourself down the road saying "well that's how we have always done it" or "that's the only way it works". Be able to step beyond the ordinary.
 
mivey

mivey

Senior Member
ty said:
...and, the balls are quite large. Much larger than a basketball. 24-36"dia depending...
Click to expand...
I was trying to give the reader a perspective of what they might look like from the ground. Most of them do not get to see this stuff up close and don't realize how big (or heavy) some of it is.

Add: the balls are relatively light but some of the other stuff is surprisingly heavy.
 
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