Manual or electric crank up/down??
A thunderstorm or other situation develops with possible high winds. Would
you rather throw a switch from inside the shack or go out in the rain/hail
and risk electrocution to lower the tower for better survival odds?
You get up early and want to ham it up a bit so you dress warmly and slog
out through the snow (cold and damp, dew, cold wind, or whatever) to crank
up the tower.
You are finished with your station for the day. It is late and you are
tired. Do you leave the tower up to risk damage if a storm brews up or do
you do the prudent thing and go out into the night to lower it.
Electric remote crank up/down isn't just a luxury, as given human nature you
will rationalize risking leaving the tower up instead of going out in the
extant conditions which may be uncomfortable to get a workout. If you have
remote electric you can leave the tower down and safe when not being used
and not have to agonize over whether you will "take care of business" and do
the right thing or just take your chances. Auto-Electric is terrific tower
insurance as with it you will lower the tower for best survival whereas
without it you will eventually tire of the hassle and just leave it up.
Maybe you will be lucky... and maybe not. Many of us owe our existence to
wishful thinking and lack of proper preparation.
If you buy a tower of sufficient strength (wind rating) to not need to lower
it for strong winds you may spend more than a "standard" tower with remote
electric up/down.
Yesterday I was at the QTH of an older ham (80+) along with a couple other
volunteer hams to put up an antenna mast and install an antenna, run coax,
pound ground rods, etc.. The weather.com hour by hour forecast I got 15 min
before I left home was for 0% rain through early afternoon and then an
increase to 10, 20, 30, and 40% 2-5PM. The thunderstorm hit at about 10:00.
Nearest lightning strike was a couple hundred yards away. Very spectacular.
We prudently cancelled and stayed off the roof of the metal bld and did not
raise the 34 ft mast. My point? Ma Nature can be sneaky, forecasts are not
100% reliable, so there is no way to be sure when it is safe to leave the
tower up in much of our areas.
Feel lucky, do ya?
73
Patrick AF5CK
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