[TowerTalk] crank down automation was Re: Crank Up towers

[Jason Creager]

On 12/23/2005 at 9:52 PM Jim Lux wrote:

>2) What if somebody has their hand in the tower, and the wind comes 
>up?  Does the automated system have safeguards to prevent actuation when 
>there's someone around the tower? 

I can't find the webpage, but I have posted a message on HomeSeer's forum
to see if anyone knows where it is.

Judging from what I remember of the complexity of the rest of the house, I
cannot imagine that he wasn't tied into the closed loop feedback for the
tower nor that he omitted a local lockout. Anyone who would be silly enough
to just hook it up to software without thinking about those very simple
"what if" scenarios kinda deserves what he gets IMHO.

Of course, there are a LOT of people in the world who get a little
knowledge about something, act on it, and do very stupid things that maim
or kill people. I'm a theatre tech and work with several people who are
employed by two companies that build winch systems to fly human beings.
Some of the stories I've heard about people "rolling their own" flying
systems to save a little money are unbelievably stupid and horrifying at
the same time. 

Heck, I personally saw a 1 ton Dayton winch from Grainger backstage in a
big church in Springfield, Missouri. The cable went straight up to the
ceiling some 60 feet or so.

"What's that for?" I asked the musical director.

"Oh! That's neat!" he replied.

"We use that to fly Jesus during the Easter contada!"

I looked at my partner in disbelief. "Well, if you want to kill or cripple
your Jesus, keep doing that." I then explained why that was dangerous, why
it will fail, how he will be personally named in the lawsuit, and that we
would be compelled to testify against him and the church. He said he would
tell the Pastor and call Flying by Foy once I got the number for him.

Looking back, I should've gone one step further and cut the power cord into
as many two inch sections as possible because I'm almost positive that they
never called Foy. If I had cable cutters, I would've cut the steel cable.
Sure, it would've pissed him off, but it could have saved a life, too.

My mention of automating the tower was not meant to be any more of a
"that's all there is to it" than any other post to this list about erecting
a tower.
- Jason - KC0ERG
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