I totally agree with you Alan. Lowering a crank up under windy conditions is
dangerous. If the tower does not have power pull down the sections can stick
when the lowering force is greater than the weight of the sections. The
cables go slack and are severely overloaded when the wind abates and the
sections come free. It has happened to me on my TX472. These towers do not
have rollers between sections but slide in angle guides. Even if you have
power pull down, I feel it could be overloaded due to the section sticking
problem. I have always had a window in my shack which allows me to see the
towers when raising or lowering or rotating the beams.
A second problem is that the rotator and coax cables may snag on something
when lowering. It has happened to me also. I would never try to lower a
crankup unless I could see what is happening.
73, Dan, N5AR
-----Original Message-----
From: towertalk-bounces@contesting.com
[mailto:towertalk-bounces@contesting.com]On Behalf Of Alan NV8A
Sent: Saturday, July 07, 2007 10:56 AM
To: towertalk@contesting.com; SteppIR Yahoo Group
Cc: W4LDE-Ron; Steve Robinson
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Whats the best free standing Tower for a
SteppIR
On 07/07/07 01:17 pm Steve Robinson wrote:
> I have the 70 foot version of the MA-550 you mentioned. I really like it.
> You will probably want to lower the tower at least half way down when the
> winds are predicted.
>
> I lowered mine one day in strong winds and the tower broke somehow. It
would
> not raise again. US Tower gave me a brand new tower! I had to pay shipping
> and pay for a crane but I was impressed that they stand behind the
product.
> I really really like the tower. Make sure you get the remote control for
> lowering and raising. You do not want to hand crank that sucker. I am 53
and
> never liked climbing even when I was young so I am a real happy camper. I
am
> a casual contester and DXer so it is perfect for my needs.
I have the HDX-555 and got the powered up/down option -- but not the
remotely operated one, having accepted the logic of those who warned:
"You don't want to be moving a tower up and down unless you can see what
it's doing."
73
Alan NV8A
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