[TowerTalk] Experience with MA550 tower

[Dick Green WC1M]

The MA-550 cannot be guyed and there's no kit for it. Guy wires would exert substantial downward force on the tower, and all of this force would be borne solely by the wire rope cables that raise and lower the tower and provide all support for the structure when it's raised. The greater the wind, the greater the downward force. I don't know the specific numbers, but would imagine even a modest wind could exceed the breaking strength of the cables.

Though I've never seen one, I have a manual for one of the Wilson tubular towers. They had steel pins to support the tubes independently of the cables. After raising the tower, the pins would click into place and you could slack off the cables. Then the guys could be tensioned, exerting their force on the pins, not the cables. For lowering, you would slack the guys, then operate a mechanism that would pull out the pins (I imagine you had to crank up the tower slightly to take the pressure off the pins.) Then you could lower the tower. Obviously, this design was intended for leaving the tower up most of the time, rather than raising and lowering it frequently. It certainly wouldn't be compatible with the US Tower motorized raising/lowering and remote control systems, and I suspect most of US Tower's tubular tower customers buy the product because they don't want a guyed tower.

73, Dick WC1M

> -----Original Message-----
> From: larryjspammenot at teleport.com [mailto:larryj at teleport.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, May 07, 2008 12:19 PM
> To: towertalk at contesting.com
> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Experience with MA550 tower
> 
> I don't know just how exact the old discontinued Wilson MT-61 tower is
> compared to the UST MA-550. I've seen several articles that say
> they're basically the same tower, can use the same raising fixtures
> and other accessories.
> 
> Someone sent me .pdf files of the installation manual about a year ago
> for the MT-61 and a separate manual for the optional guying system for
> it. Maybe there's some similar guying method available for the MA-550?
> 
> LJ
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> >From: K7LXC at aol.com
> >Sent: May 7, 2008 9:02 AM
> >To: towertalk at contesting.com, gdslagel at yahoo.com
> >Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Experience with MA550 tower
> >
> >
> >In a message dated 4/29/2008 8:37:00 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
> >towertalk-request at contesting.com writes:
> >
> >>  Anyone have favorable/unfavorable comments about this  tower?
> >
> >    On the plus side, aesthetically they're pretty  reasonable. This
> is a
> >light-duty tower with a limited amount of capacity. If  you live in a
> windy area,
> >I'd be pretty careful.
> >
> >>  I'm thinking of a used one and, looking at the 4 eham  reviews,
> there's a
> >lot of talk about moving towers and needing to add guy  wires.
> >
> >    Huh?!? Where does the manufacturer specify  guy-wires? More
> amateur
> >engineering. :-(  My advice is to follow the LXC  Prime Directive to
> "DO what the
> >manufacturer says." The reverse is also  true.
> >
> >Cheers,
> >Steve    K7LXC
> >TOWER TECH -
> >Professional tower services for hams
> >Cell: 206-890-4188
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
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