Shipboard Handling Equipment 



Probably the most important consideration in the use of 

 any faired-cable system is the design of handling equipment 

 for reeling in, paying out, and storing hundreds of feet of 

 cable. The design of such equipment is even more critical in 

 the system under consideration, since a number of instrument 

 modules attached to the cable must also be handled. 



It appears certain that, in handling long lengths of 

 faired cable, it will be necessary to use a traction system 

 which is separate from the cable-staring system. There are 

 two ways in which this might be accomplished; one is to 

 use twin load-drums and the other, to press the cable between 

 tractor-like treads coupled to a drive motor „ Either may be 

 used in conjunction with one or more storage reels or with a 

 cable well. 



In the twin load-drum system, the cable is wrapped around 

 two conventional drums as though they were a single unit. 

 Projections of the drum axes are parallel in the plane of the 

 deck and intersect at a small angle in a plane perpendicular 

 to the deck. This angle determines the axial displacement of 

 the cable as it passes from one drum to the other and this 

 "canting" of the axes prevents "walking" of the cable along 

 the drums. The diameter of the drvims is determined, as in 



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