This photograph shows an electrical power distribution line in beautiful Summit County, Colorado, at an altitude of about 9100 feet above sea level. The first reader to post a comment correctly explaining the function of the white triangle will win a nice piece of swag — an Oppedahl Patent Law Firm LLC digital voltmeter.
Raptor guard. Keeps raptors from perching there whilst hunting and being electrocuted if they go phase to ground.
Close! Well, part of the comment is spot on. Yes it is a guard to keep birds with wide wing spans from perching there. And its purpose is to keep them from getting electrocuted. But not “phase to ground” electrocution.
In the photograph, ground is up at the top of the pole, and the live wires are on the cross-arm, so the ground is very unlikely to present an electrocution risk relative to any of the three phases. The guard in the position shown in the photograph will only prevent a phase-to-phase contact.
I do think this comment is close enough that we can say we have a winner.
The purpose of the white triangle is to keep animals, such as large birds, from causing a short circuit between the power line and the ground line.
This was oursecond correct (or nearly correct) answer in just a few minutes. (Again not between power and ground.)
The triangle, which should be made of an insulating type of material) is intended to make that part of the power pole less convenient and comfortable for birds (especially large ones) to land on.
This was ourthird correct answer in just a few minutes.
anti-galloping device
I had to look it up. See this discussion of conductor galloping. I don’t think this triangle is an anti-galloping device.
Well, I knew they weren’t Squirrel donuts because I had two of them installed on my power line. The donuts didn’t bother the major culprit- the big squirrel who with his friends and family got into my attic. They are now in squirrel heaven and the donuts have been removed..
It is a perch guard to prevent birds from landing or nesting on the pole:
https://www.eagles.org/take-action/avian-friendly-power-lines/
Cool!
This was ourfourth correct answer in just a few minutes.
For larger birds like storks, a rotating structure similar to an anemometer is more effective:
https://goo.gl/images/03926u
Carl- its an anti-bird perch device to keep larger birds from getting a fry-on.
This was ourfifth correct answer in just a few minutes.
vibrating string anemometer?
An anti-perch device to prevent birds from landing on the cross arm.
Triangle Antiperch installed to prevent birds from landing on the crossarm and going phase-to-phase
or phase-to-ground.
The triangle prevents birds from landing on the crossarm and causing an outage (going phase-to-phase or phase-to-ground).