[TowerTalk] Portable Crank-Up Mast

[Bruce Sawyer]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Pete Smith" <n4zr@contesting.com>
>
> This sounds like a job for one of the "rocket launcher" AB-577 surplus
mast
> kits.  Nat, I think you can see a lot of them in use at the PVRC FD site
> next weekend.
>
> Following is a message from my archive giving more details:
>
> Reply-To: "Dick Green" <dick.green@valley.net>
> From: "Dick Green" <dick.green@valley.net>
> To: "Tower" <towertalk@contesting.com>, ve4xt@mb.sympatico.ca
> Subject: [TowerTalk] Non-permanent towers; what to do?
> Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 01:11:55 -0400
>
> Kelly,
>
> If you really want something temporary, you should consider a crank-up
> military surplus portable tower like the AB-577/GRC. They are available
from
> Ontario Surplus in Ontario, NY. Check out the web site at
>
> http://home.att.net/~surplusben/prod01.htm
>

I think there is some surplus outfit in W3-land selling these things for
about $385.  I saw one set up on the mall in Washington, D.C. by the Boy
Scouts last May 13, and they told me they got it from some surplus store in
MD.  I've also heard some of the PVRCers mention the same thing.  Perhaps
somebody up in that area of the country can give an exact reference.

I'll second all the comments Pete made about this gizmo.  I bought one in
Visalia for ~$250 about 8 years ago, and have dragged it all over the place
since then on expeditions.  Many, many times I have put up a medium-size
tribander, on a rotator, at 50', in a 25 knot wind...all by myself.  I can't
think of anything else I've ever seen that would permit that.  I've had mine
down on Little Cayman Island for the past two years, and that's what
supported the tribander I was using in ALL the contests for the past couple
of years while I was operating from Little Cayman.  (There are a couple of
pictures of this thing at http://www.qsl.net/zf2nt/station.htm.)  Since it's
located only about 50' from the salt water down there, I have learned it's
not completely immune from rust and corrosion.  Nothing important has rusted
out on me, but there are a number of small fittings which turned out to be
susceptible.  You would never see this in a normal location...but Little
Cayman is not a normal environment.  And by the way, this thing has
withstood some fairly substantial blows.  Nothing hurricane-force yet, but
it's definitely been through 70mph winds.

Bruce, N6NT/ZF2NT


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