My friends I take acceptation to all this crankup tower "stuff".
I have a 75HD Aluma tower, if it "lawn furniture" I'll invite the elephants over to sit. I could not
afford to have a 75ft tower erected and do not have friends to help as I had just moved from out of
state. Nor did I have or want guys at ground or elevated. So that left me with the only option in a
crank-up. I Looked at US towers and was quoted $2500 for shipping(this was before the Mid-west
shipping). I installed the Aluma by myself and used the "ground post" so no concrete, its been up
for 7 years with a C31XR for 2 yrs and now a 4el SteppIR. I crank-up and down depending on the
weather and for maintenance( it tilts also and power winch for up and down).
I no that there are several different models in the Aluma line so its not fair to say that the whole
line is "weak".
73 Larry K1ZW
-----Original Message-----
From: towertalk-bounces at contesting.com [mailto:towertalk-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Julio
Peralta
Sent: Saturday, February 23, 2008 2:24 PM
To: K7LXC at aol.com; towertalk at contesting.com; k0son at frontiernet.net
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Crank up Tower
Steve the tower you described reminds me of the Aluma Tower which is made here in Florida. It very
closely resembles lawn furniture. The Heights crank up towers, which are also made in Florida, are a
much stronger constructed tower. They kind of look like an aluminum version of a US Tower. I have
had experience with both and would not recommend the Aluma Tower but a Heights Tower should be good
for any load for which they are rated.
Julio, W4HY
-----Original Message-----
From: towertalk-bounces at contesting.com
[mailto:towertalk-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of K7LXC at aol.com
Sent: Saturday, February 23, 2008 1:02 PM
To: towertalk at contesting.com; k0son at frontiernet.net
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Crank up Tower
In a message dated 2/23/2008 9:02:49 A.M. Pacific Standard Time, towertalk-request at contesting.com
writes:
> I'm new to the list & need some information on Heights Crank up
towers
without the tilt over feature. OK here's the background. I use to have a 50 ft Universal at my old
house. I liked the tower, but 50 ft is now above my
comfort level for working on towers, I'd like to get a crankup and think the Heights would be good
one. So, I would like to get in contact with anyone who currently owns, or has owned a Heights crank
up. I've read their web site & now want to talk to owners & get the real story.
A customer of mine bought a 100-foot version. He had never had a tower before and bought it
because he could get it in his backyard without too much trouble and then he'd have a 100' tower.
After everything was done, he wanted a professional opinion about his installation. He made one
fatal error
in locating the guy anchors which we corrected.
EVERYTHING about this tower was undersized and under-engineered IMO.
The 3 base bolts were 1/2" or so. The winch and haul lines were inadequate - the winch got real hot
as we were cranking it up. I can't remember if the cables were rope or steel - they might've been
rope.
This was a guyed tower which meant you had to be VERY careful as it's being cranked up and
then the guy tensions were all on the haul cables.
He called the other day as he was preparing to lower it and the
safety latch that locked some of the sections wouldn't release so it wouldn't descend. I suggested
a couple of things that I would have done if I'd been there and he went out to lower it. He called
back a little later and said that he indeed got the safety latch to release but as he was lowering
it, the winch got away from him and the whole thing collapsed. The yagi booms bent and the whole
tower wound up jammed in the lower section.
I was saddened to hear about his calamity because he made some bad decisions that led to
this unfortunate occurrence. (OTOH I was glad I wasn't the guy that did it.) I would never have
recommended that he buy this tower - 100' of 45G would have been a much better decision and it'd
still be in the air for the next 25 years or more.
If you've got your heart set on a crank-up, get a US Tower model.
They're steel, well built and US Tower has been known to go out of their way for customer service.
Cheers,
Steve K7LXC
TOWER TECH -
Professional tower services for hams
Cell: 206-890-4188
_www.championradio.com/installs.html_
(http://www.championradio.com/installs.html)
**************Ideas to please picky eaters. Watch video on AOL Living.
(http://living.aol.com/video/how-to-please-your-picky-eater/rachel-campo
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2050827?NCID=aolcmp00300000002598)
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