[TowerTalk] US Towers TX-472MDPL Remote Control

[WD0M]

I failed to mention that my tower is fully visible from the very large 
window in the shack.  Many folks have suggested that I rethink the wisdom 
of controlling a tower sight unseen.  And they have a good point.  Were I 
not able to see the entire system, I would not pursue this option.  I've 
experienced a hand cranked tower sticking in the part-way-down mode and it 
ain't fun.  Point well taken.

73,
Joe
WD0M

At 04:55 PM 11/1/2003, Jim Lux wrote:
>Bear in mind that when you remote control something that you cannot see, you
>need to have some basic safety precautions in place, like interlocks and
>position feedback.  A friend has a crank up tower (without positive pull
>down), and had it hang up while retracting one night.  The winch keeps
>unspooling the cable, leaving the upper tower sections essentially supported
>by friction.  I forgot why he went out there to look at, but he mentioned it
>was pretty scary, looking up at the tower with a flashlight and realizing
>that at any moment it could break loose and fall.
>
>Also, what if something is stuck in the tower lattice, and you push the up
>or down button, having your tower do a nice imitation of a kitchen vegetable
>slicer.
>
>Seems that it wouldn't be too difficult in these days of modern programmable
>logic controllers costing less than $100 to rig up a suitable encoder and
>feedback that would detect if things are awry (heck, garage door openers do
>it).  And, no, I wouldn't trust any sort of PC software to do a life safety
>function, which this is.