>
>
>Rich Boyd KE3Q
>
>---------- Forwarded message ----------
>From: tony wyn jones <tony@gwyepu.demon.co.uk>
>To: rlboyd@capaccess.org
>Subject: Re: crankup caution
>
>HI Rich,
>
>(In reply to your message dated Sunday 11, February 1996)
>
>Well, I can but relate to a sticky situation I found myself in a few years
ago while
>doing a local VHF contest field-day. Being an enthusiastic teenage
know-all, I decided
>to climb a 60ft crank-up, and attach a 500w floodlamp at the 30ft point, so
we could
>have an illuminated contest site at night. (we are already qrv at this
time, and pulling
>the VHF array down in mid-contest was not acceptable to everyone!)
>
I belive that this story has finally cured me of my desire to buy a
crank-up. However, I'm still looking for a way to put up some another beam
without putting up a tower that I have to climb. I already have a TH7 on a
55 foot tower.
Last summer, I had an accident in which I suffered multiple lacerations to
my right hand. Hopefully, after my second operation that is coming up soon,
I'll be able to get the right index finger and right ring finger to bend
out to at least the "banana" position that this fellow has alluded to. I
have not been able to climb my tower since the accident and may not be able
to do it again. I can't say that I will miss it, tower climbing is my least
favorite activity in ham radio. Above about 20 feet I start getting nervous
and I'll probably never get comfortable. I know that lots of hams have no
trouble with it (one of my college room mates at UT was one of those guys
that could work on 1000 foot commercial towers with no problem).
Anyway, I had been thinking about a big crank-up, but now I'm having second
thoughts. I always worndered what you did if it got hung up and you could
not get it down. Now it seems that I have three choices - pay some one else
to climb the tower (I'll be darned if I'm going to ask another ham to climb
a tower that I wont't), or get something like one of the Heights fold overs
or put up one of the HAZER towers that Glen Martin Engineering sells. Two
local hams have the Heights fold over towers (with TH6/7's on top) and I
have worked on one 25 G Hazer. I'm thinking about his M1870A 70 foot model
with something like a Force 12 5BA or C4XL. YOUR COMMENTS PLEASE!
Thanks Ralph. N4TG n4tg@tricon.net
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