[Towertalk] crank up "fit"

[Dino Darling]

First, never put ANY body part near the tower when going up and down!!!

One could argue that as you crank the tower up and it hits the STOPS near 
the top that it removes any play out of the system as it binds.  This would 
only work on the first two sections to hit the stops.  All the sections 
would have to be PERFECT in order for all the stops to hit at the same 
time.  This would also put a larger strain on the cabeling system.

In the real world, it does not matter where the tower is as far a "slop" goes.

I have removed many older towers that used to have small pieces of flat bar 
(folded) that you could place just below each tower section in order to 
remove the weight off the cables.  This required climbing the tower to 
place the flat bar though.  I have noticed that there is "less play" when 
using the flat bar as the section is not "hanging" by the cable.

One real scary tower used ONE CABLE through 5 sections.  As you cranked up 
the tower, the first section would raise all the way to the stop and PULL 
the second section up...and so on.  While bringing the tower down, if 
anything bound, sections would move up and down on their own until the 
weight was equalized!  The flat bar helped this problem a lot!

New towers with multiple cables don't have this problem.  It does make me 
wonder if the transfer of weight from the flat bar to one of the cross 
members on a new tower would damage that cross member at all.  It is now 
carrying the weight of everything above it!

>I'll ask this again since I really didnt get much of response before, and 
>it was buried in another lengthy post...
>Just bought a crank up, never thought i would but couldnt pass the deal up...
>
>Im not sure how to posit this question...  On any of these crank-ups I 
>realize one can stop it anywhere in between fully extended and retracted, 
>but does the tower "lock-up" tighter when fully extended vs. wobble when 
>ony partially so ?  Or is the mechanical "fit" the same at all points on 
>the way up?
>
>I realize that the entire load is held by the wire rope in any case, but 
>what about the "mechanical lockup" for lack of a better term.... does the 
>tower "lock up" better when at its full extension any better worse than at 
>some other partial setting ?  Is the "fit" of the sections tapered or 
>identical at all settings?  Im trying to describe the lateral 
>inter-section mechanical "fit"....
>
>is the inter-section "wobble" a constant, or does it tighten up at full 
>extension?
>
>tough to describe what i am thinking.....  all the same query, different 
>words....
>
>what if i put my head inside one of the lower sections while cranking it 
>up to check the bottom of the rotor plate out ?
>
>-bob

Dino...k6rix@arrl.net