You have hit on the biggest bugaboo of the Hazer, namely clearances
vis a vis any tower imperfections. I have a GM1850 tower with GM
Hazer, and it definitely have problems with getting stuck. The
original design of the Hazer is fairly loose and allows it to
rattle around. With that configuation, if it does get stuck, I
can just wiggle a guy wire to shake it loose. I bought a kit
from GM to convert to an "improved" configuration using plastic
blocks with V grooves that fit the corners of the tower (the
tower legs are angles, not pipes). This was a disaster, and
was hopeless in terms of getting stuck. I will admit that if you
sight along the tower you can detect a very slight warp or twist
in it. IMHO, this is no excuse. The Hazer needs to be able to
deal with a less than perfect tower. (I bought this tower used,
so for all I know, the owner sold it because he was having
trouble with it getting stuck).
Of course, just making the Hazer loose isn't desirable because
then it rattles around in the wind. However, this rattling hasn't
been a problem in 4 years. Just realize that you don't want to
make it looser than necessary.
What I suggest you do in terms of a homebrew Hazer is to make two
improvements that GM should have done: use rollers instead of sliders
and spring load them with stiff springs. One other thing I don't
like about the Hazer is that you are standing at the bottom of
the tower cranking the winch. The GM winch doesn't have positive
braking and in any event, if something goes wrong, you are a sitting
duck underneath the antenna. I do wear a hard hat, which is some
protection. If I was homebrewing, I would go with a motorized winch and
be done with it.
Someone will no doubt post that their GM tower/Hazer works perfectly,
etc. I am happy for any satisfied owners, but I stand by my
less than desirable experience.
Rick N6RK
Randall Mullinax wrote:
> I've heard all the negatives about the Hazer but I'm getting old and don't
> want to climb anymore. I've got an existing 12' face, solid leg, free
> standing broadcast tower. The tower doesn't have leg flanges so a hazer
> type tram would word but I'll have to home brew one since the tower legs
> are larger than a 25G.
>
> My question of Hazer owners is.....what is the clearance between the Hazer
> and the tower leg. It must be a pretty close since I've heard of Hazers
> getting stuck due to slightly bowed 25G's. Put another way....what is the
> distance between the Hazer frame the tower leg.
>
> Thanks for any information you can provide.
>
> 73
> Randy
> AD5RM
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