[TowerTalk] DX86 vs. HDX589

[Dave]

At 10:49 AM 08/06/2000 EDT, K7LXC wrote:
>In a message dated 08/05/2000 11:14:29 PM Pacific Daylight Time, 
>dave@dbtech.net writes:
>
>    What does "appears to be a bit more sturdy" mean? Both towers were 
>designed by the same guy - Lou Tristao - so they are slightly different 
>designs. The only way you could tell which one was "sturdier" is to get the 
>engineering calculations for each tower and compare them side-by-side. Unless 
>you're an engineer, interpreting the calcs might be semi-useful and the 
>differences subtle.

"Appears" to me means a three cable pull-up system and strong tubing. Of
course this is information from their literature and we all know how much
salt to take along with marketing hype.

>    I'm not sure what a 'three cable system' is. I know the US Tower has 
>positive pull-down and I'm not sure about the Tri-Ex. Nonetheless they each 
>have to have the appropriate number of cables to run it up (and down). They 
>probably even use the same cable schemes.

I know they claim to have a positive pull down, as well as a level-wind for
their hoist drum.

>>  Regardless of which one I finally choose, the tower
>>  will be purchased with the raising fixture, but without the remote control.
>>  I see no need to spend a grand on a control box that can be easily
>>  constructed. I also plan to fit the tower with an extra set of limit
>>  switches in series with the provided ones (I want to be able to operate the
>>  tower automatically during bad weather with some peace of mind).
>
>    I'm not a big fan of remote controlling the raising and lowering of a 
>motorized crank-up. I know personally of several calamities that have 
>resulted from not being able to watch the tower as it was raised or lowered. 
>Extra limit switches won't solve this problem. 

That's too bad. I won't purchase a system that I can't trust to work as
advertised. The extra limit switches are just for the extra safety margin.
So are you saying that motorized towers fail on a too frequent basis or was
there some issue with the respective installations? 

>    Since you're asking which company to buy from, I would suggest that US 
>Tower is the market leader because of their quality products and customer 
>service. The resurrection of Tri-Ex towers recently has shown some start-up 
>problems, particularly messages within the last couple of days here on 
>TowerTalk. If it was me, I'd go with the known quantity. 

Thanks for the advice. Most of the complaints I have heard regarding US
Tower was the lack of a manual and slow deliveries. Evidently I missed the
recent discussion of Tri-ex vs. US Tower. Too bad, I would have been most
interested.

>Cheers,   Steve   K7LXC
>Champion Radio Products
>(not a US Tower dealer)
>

73,
David W4DLB


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Sir, are you classified as human?
"Ah, negative. I am a meat popsicle"
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


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