In a message dated 3/14/02 7:41:52 AM Pacific Standard Time, w2rds@arrl.net
writes:
> I do not have any direct experience with this but I do not that some towers
> have a mechanism to provide support of the tower in the extended position
> other than relying on the cable.
No they don't unfortunately.
> And I know that several of the guys in my
> area are retrofitting these devices onto their towers that do not have
> them, to prevent the scenario that Sherman descirbed.
Ah, jeez - great. A bunch of amateurs making modifications to a
well-designed structure that the manufacturer CERTAINLY WON'T endorse and
might even make the situation worse and increase the risk to the owner. Would
you please talk these guys out of doing that?
> I would not want to
> rely on the cable to hold the entire weight of the tower, mast, rotator,
> and antenna's for years on end.
Why not? They're designed to do just that with a significant safety
factor. I've seen several original Tristao crank-ups that were installed
by Lou himself with the original cables and they're in fine shape considering
their age.
>
> I will be very interested to see the results that are compiled.
Me too. I would suggest you only include first-person experiences.
Getting a bunch of real anecdotal stories about a friend-of-a-friend type
stuff you can't substantiate doesn't seem very useful. There won't be any
useful details either (age, cable size, condition, load, failure mode, etc.).
Cheers,
Steve K7LXC
Tower Tech
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