[TowerTalk] Can motorized crank up's be manually lowered...when power is out ?

[Bill Winkis]

Jim Thomson wrote:
> We  just went through a big wind storm all last night [ thursday night/fri morning].   The  commercial  AC power flickered and dimmed
> a few times.  It eventually died  for 2 hrs. 
>
> Correct ...I have an LM70 ...IT's AC is powered from a Water Well house..some 100 feet away...(Yes we still have 3' X 60' dug water wells in Georgia ..) ... in the tower AC line I have a 1kW UPS supply I picked up on Ebay "cheap";  put new batteries it .... The UPS was rated at 1000 watts for 10 minutes ...... Under test it brought the tower down with no problem ... then I took the tower 1/2 the way up and down again..... No Problem

> -Bill
>   

> Ok,  what happens  with the  HDX-689... when it's fully extended, and els all broadside to the wind.. and power goes off ?? 
>
> Can these things  be  brought down manually .. safely.... by another method ??   [ hand winch, cordless drill, etc]
>
> I'm seriously thinking of  installing a  wireless wind speed indicator on top of the new tower. 
>
> I can just see myself in the basement, with headphones on, totally oblivious to the wind outside.    The usual deal is, when  winds hit  35-50 mph,
> trees  come down across the power lines  by the nearby park... and  there goes the power  for 2-4 hrs.  Meanwhile the storm has not hit it's  peak ..yet. 
> Local wx  forecasts  are  usually accurate.. when they predict lousy wx.  
>
> Plan B  was    either  add UPS power.. or  a  gen set.    I don't have a clue  what the start up current on the 1 hp motor is.. when  retracting a HDX-689.
> It has  positive pull down featrure,  but it's  still gravity that's  doing most of the work.   A  UPS  that could provide  120 vac  @  20A  CCS   for  4 mins
> might work.    Starting a gen set at 3 AM... in the middle of  winter... in the middle of a wind storm  is  no fun either...esp if it doesn't start. 
>
> IF the  local forecast  is predicting 'high  winds  after midnight, 110 kmh'     then at least I have some advance notice... and  either don't crank it up,
> or only crank it up   part way,  etc. 
>
> What does everybody else do ??     This  install will have  a lot of weight on top.. and  4 x ants, and  2" OD  x  3/8"  chromolly mast. 
>
> Later.... Jim   VE7RF   
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