K7LXC says:
"First of all, you CANNOT use SS wire rope."
However, the AlumaTower Company of Vero Beach, FL. supplies SS cable on
their crankup towers. My AlumaTower crankup has SS cable, and has been in
use for 4 years now with zero problems. I average cranking it up/down a
couple times per week. There is, and will not be, corrosion/rust on this
cable. There is no wear on it that I can see. However, as a precaution
against the individual stands of the cable wearing through internal rubbing
against each other, I still use an application of PreLub6 on it every few
months.
Jim W4LC
-----Original Message-----
From: K7LXC@aol.com [mailto:K7LXC@aol.com]
Sent: Sunday, May 06, 2001 12:54 PM
To: towertalk@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Re: Fw: Crank-up
In a message dated 5/6/01 5:39:45 AM Pacific Daylight Time, JSheinb785
writes:
> I have a UST HDX555/MDP750 abt 2 yrs old. Since I live in the corrosive
> atmosphere of the Texas Gulf Coast, & have had a previous UST's cables
rust
&
> break, ruining the tower & all the antennas, I'm thinking abt restringing
the
> cables with stainless steel. However, UST won't give me the diagram on
how
> to recable it. Any suggestions?
First of all, you CANNOT use SS wire rope. It is unsuitable for a moving
cable over a pulley like a typical crank-up application. About the only
thing
you can do is to use PreLube 6 cable lubricant (available from the list
sponsor) at least a couple of times a year. It'll displace any moisture in
the cables and help to keep junk out of the strands. The only other 100%
cure
would be to get rid of the crank-up and go with a regular tower.
This just occurred to me: how about spray painting the cables with some
cold galvanizing spray paint? That would help the strands with another
coating and wouldn't trap any contaminants like a grease would.
I agree but they don't have any real restinging diagrams that would
either be of interest or usable by you and me. You would have to know their
nomenclature and have some experience to begin with. I went down there
specifically to learn how to recable their towers and it is not something
you
learn in a few days or from a diagram.
It's a real Catch 22 - they want you to replace the cables every three
years but don't provide any instructions and there ren't any people out
there
to do it. You've got to understand that if they provide much in the way of
"help", that would increase their liability exposure and they don't need
more
of that when it comes to insurance cost and lawsuits.
> When you visited there were they cordial?
Sure. They were real busy though.
>
> The grease they sent me was a "clear motorcycle grease," as they called
it.
> The lube for the cable was mfd. by Whitmore & is clear. However, one may
> obtain a similar product mfd. by Jet-lube in Houston Texas, (my son's
company
> sells it) & the part number is WRL (how unique!).
You could probably use any number of lubricants on the legs since its
purpose is primarily to help the sections slide around during assembly and
they don't make any specific recommendations for leg lubricants after
assembly that I'm aware of.
Cheers, Steve K7LXC
Tower Tech
Champion Radio Products
List Sponsor: Champion Radio Products - We'll be at the Dayton Hamvention
with all of our safety equipment and other products. Stop by booth #559 and
say hi.
<A HREF="a">http://www.championradio.com</A>
-----
FAQ on WWW: http://www.contesting.com/FAQ/towertalk
Submissions: towertalk@contesting.com
Administrative requests: towertalk-REQUEST@contesting.com
Problems: owner-towertalk@contesting.com
List Sponsor: Champion Radio Products - We'll be at the Dayton Hamvention
with all of our safety equipment and other products. Stop by booth #559 and
say hi.
<A HREF="http://www.championradio.com";>www.ChampionRadio.com</A>
-----
FAQ on WWW: http://www.contesting.com/FAQ/towertalk
Submissions: towertalk@contesting.com
Administrative requests: towertalk-REQUEST@contesting.com
Problems: owner-towertalk@contesting.com
|