[TowerTalk] US Tower: Broken cable, resolution?

[Dick Green]

I've had an MA-770MDP with a TH-7 at the top for two and a half years, and
here's my $0.02 on the crank-down subject:

1. Buy the motor drive and remote control. Hand cranking is hard and
time-consuming. Eventually, you will neglect to do it and will be sorry when
that unexpected windstorm comes up.

2. Use the tower at full extension only when needed. I use it that way only
for contests and chasing rare DX.

3. Leave the tower 20 feet under full extension for all other operating. The
70 foot tower is *much* more stable and resistant to wind when lowered to 50
feet, and a tribander will perform perfectly well at that height for most
operating needs. I have no doubt that the tower can handle 70 MPH or higher
winds when lowered to 50 feet. I leave the tower at 50 feet  whenever I'm
home. Since I work at home, it's at 50 feet almost all the time.

4. Crank the tower down all the way whenever leaving the house overnight.

5. Install a windspeed gauge with a built-in speed alarm and a NOAA weather
radio with a built-in alert alarm. Do not leave the tower fully extended
when winds exceed 25MPH. Do not leave the tower at 50 feet when winds exceed
35 MPH. Actually, I crank it all the way down when winds get up to about 30
MPH.

73, Dick WC1M



--
FAQ on WWW:               http://www.contesting.com/towertalkfaq.html
Submissions:              towertalk@contesting.com
Administrative requests:  towertalk-REQUEST@contesting.com
Problems:                 owner-towertalk@contesting.com
Search:                   http://www.contesting.com/km9p/search.htm