Amen! Only 78 and been at it only 60 years, but I have no desire to do any
climbing anymore either.
I have one of the Wing double slide ladders, all but a permanent attachment
to the HG-70HD crankup. BUT, have a friend down the coast who has a very
nice bucket lift on his work van (cable contractor) that is often available
for short periods in the spring through fall. SO MUCH EASIER THAN THE
LADDER. Bucket has a nice tool tray too. Little small for a chair though!!
Wish it were mine (pic attached). sked the wife if I could buy one and her
response is not printable.
A couple of years after this pic was taken I installed a layover fixture and
that is the position the tower is in now as I do some antenna cleanup and
balun and coax replacement. Was tough to get out in December and work, 14.3
inches of rain spread over the month. My layover system has a dual pulley at
the fixture and the tower so raising and lowering is really easy. BUT, one
still needs a ladder (I use a shorter one) to work on the antennas of course
because the boom length of the TH7DX doesn't allow complete lowering. Also
have a steel brace system to lay the tower on, allowing relief for the
pulley cable and assuring it doesn't drop more than I want.
Don W7WLL
-----Original Message-----
From: Chuck Smallhouse
Sent: Monday, January 05, 2015 3:01 PM
To: towertalk@contesting.com
Subject: [TowerTalk] Too Old To Climb Towers
There are varying excuses for not wanting to climb towers any longer,
too old is one ! At 83 and a ham for over 67 years, I prefer (not
desire) to only have to climb no more than 30-40 feet on something
similar to Rohn 45 or 55.
So some months ago, when confronted with climbing a retracted crank
up tower, with diagonal bracing, I purchased an aluminum 24'
extension ladder from Walmart, on sale for about $144. Prior to
using it, I installed "ears or wings" on the top of each of its
vertical members to prevent it, when leaning up against my tower,
from inadvertently sliding off. With the ladder's base about 3 to 5
feet away from the tower's base, it provides a comfortable climbing
angle. I further anchored and stabilized it to the tower, with three
strategically placed, rachet "tie down" straps around both the tower
and the ladder, along it's length.
This is a cheap mental and physical insurance policy for climbing
retracted crank up towers, if you can't also "lay them down". Bear
in mind that the advertised length of these ladders does not reflect
the necessary overlap distance of their sections. Also there's
nothing wrong with storing them in place !
Chuck, W7CS
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