[TowerTalk] Tristao TMS-771 Motorozied Crankup Tower

[Patrick Greenlee]

There are several ways to mechanize limit switches, including:

Mechanical arrangements such as micro switches with a lever or similar 
that is pushed to change state on contacts either open to closed or 
closed to open depending on the particular design.

Reed switches and magnets or Hall effect devices and magnets.

Optical, typically an LED and a photoreceptor not unlike the safety 
mechanism that controls a garage door.  Your kid or dog breaks the beam 
and the door stops and maybe reverses.  Same idea for tower sections 
moving with respect to one another. Components are readily available at 
OVERHEAD DOOR or probably the big box store but I don't know this latter 
for a fact. A DIY project, not a super simple kit.

Some limit controls are current sensing.  When the mechanical limit is 
reached the current drawn by the motor spikes to a value above the 
normal operating current which is sensed by the controller which kills 
the power to the motor.

There may be other mechanisms in use (maybe some humorous Rube Goldberg 
ones)  but I am not familiar with any others in use if there are  any.

There was a fellow with an experimental controller that had a follow up 
pot like a rotor.  You dial in a height and the tower motor ran the 
tower to that height.  I think his system had micro switches with levers 
as fail safe limit switches for just in case.

73,

Patrick NJ5G


On 5/14/2014 4:16 PM, Steve Baughn wrote:
> I was fortunate enough to just acquire one of these towers. It was taken apart-cabling,nuts,bolts, motor etc. and the previous owner decided to moved rather than put it back together. Is anyone on TT familiar with this tower or perhaps have a manual that I could get a copy of? I want to make sure I get all the cabling and parts back where they belong. I have a call in to U.S. Tower but have not heard back from them. I saw that this tower did not have limit switches with it unless you purchased the remote control. Has anyone fabricated their own remote switch w/limits that they could share the diagram on? I am not familiar with how the limits mount on the tower or where. Many thanks!
>
> 73,
>
> Steve Baughn, WD8NPL
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