[TowerTalk] Motorized UST tower... very smooth and dead quiet!

[Jim Thomson]

The  UST HDX-689 is still sitting in the driveway, blocked up, horizontal.  I have a cracked flange on one of the
drum bearings, that will require a gear puller to get the large chain sprocket off 1st.   Then both drum  bearings
will be replaced at the same time. 

The K7NV small prop pitch has to be shifted down a few feet.   A 2nd bearing shelf + intermediate bearing
will go where the rotor used to be. 

I fired up the 1.5 hp  motor.. and extended tower a bit... then blew the 15 A breaker. [no surprise here, it requires  a 20A circuit, 
this weeks project]   On the 2nd attempt, it ran fine...and extended it some more. I couldn't go too far, maybe 4-5'..otherwise
I'd end up punching a hole through the basement sliding glass door !   Tower is  dead quiet, and smooth as  a baby's bum.
I retracted it a  bit, such that I can get at the the existing rotor plate + PP... and also the lower down new rotor position. 
I want that all done before the crane comes in to lift onto the  now cured base.   I did a bunch of measurements and it looks like
we can lower the tower, vertically,  onto the base plate ears. [ if we can figure out how to sling it correctly] .

You stand back 20'  from this thing, and close your eyes, and you would never know it was going up/down.  IMO, it's the
ultimate night time, dusk till dawn solution to city hall's  anti tower crusade.  As is, hams have tower height restrictions.
The other side benefits are no guy wires, and  being only 24'  tall  when retracted,  makes installing ants a lot easier..vs 
100'.   I also have the 2" x 20' long  x .375"  wall 107 ksi mast.  14' of mast  sticking out the top....so 24+14= 38'  to top of
mast when nested, and  103' to top of mast, when extended.   I'm kicking myself now for not getting  a crank up yrs ago. 

This being a night time gig, the focus is on the low bands.  I have not been on 20m  for a long time, is it even open at night
these days??    At the top of the  cycle, is 20-17-15m ever open at night ?  Back in 1998-1999, 20m was open to EU, at
night for hrs on end, ditto with vk/zl.  [summer time 10pm til midnight] 

Plan A  was the 80m shortened  rotary dipole at top, and the combo 17/15m yagi below it, and 20m
yagi below that...and 3-el 40m yagi  at bottom of mast. Plan B  was the shortened 2-el 80m
yagi at top, 40m yagi at very bottom..and maybe the 20m yagi in between em. 

As  much as I like Plan A... I think I might  be wasting my efforts.    Having a 2-el 80m yagi up 100'
would be a real blast  vs  a potentially  dead 17/15 band.   Tower is good for 50+  sq ft and 500 lbs
so I have plenty of feasible options.    I have zero interest in 12/10/6m .    If anybody has any
suggestions, it would be much appreciated. 

Jim   VE7RF