[TowerTalk] N2JFS photos of bolts

[kr2q at optimum.net]

Wow..those photos bring back lots of memories from the late 60's/early 70's..

I had an aluminum (Heights) crankup tower (84 feet?).

I noticed some "rust" one year and pulled out the bolt that came with the tower.  
They looked well on the way to what you showed in your photos.

Yeah...you can't use steel bolts on an aluminum tower..this happens every time.

So I replaced all of the bolts with SS.  Worked great and let me sleep at night.

However, I was always worried about the Al to Steel junction at the base.  Also, the steel
triangles at the top/bottom of each (telescopic) section "rusted" (dissimilar metals - eaten
away) pretty badly.  I had SS triangles fabricated, but by the time they arrived, I went off 
to college and wen I returned, I found a greenhouse where my tower used to be.  :-)

So I bought some taper sections and no longer had a crank up.  My dad was kind enough
to let me "move the tower" to the other side of the house...again using SS bolts..but still had
the same issue with the base.

When I got my own place, I bought steel crankup towers.  Heavier but no worries about the
aluminum eating away the steel.

de Doug KR2Q