In all fairness to WB0W he makes 3 different gin poles. The one that fits
25-55 looks almost like the real Rohn gin pole. It only takes 1 bolt to
tighten the pole. Your right in saying it takes 2 to tighten the mechanism to
the tower leg. The Rohn gin pole I have used also took 2 to do the
job, if my memory is correct. The WB0W pole is heavier because he uses
thicker material for the part that attaches to the tower leg and the pulley at
the top. I saw his gin poles at a hamfest and was impressed with
the quality of workmanship. It looked like it would last many , many
life times. With out being able to weigh both of them I would guess his
is about 3 to 5 pounds more in weight. I think putting the antenna (s) would be
more of a problem then moving the gin pole up to the next
section. All this from a guy who is not to proud to tell you, I'm not a
climber. But I'm a hell of a ground grunt ! I have also seen a IIX gin pole
and his was good too, except there was something the owner didn't like about
the pulley, so he put a new one in. Hey, I'm working under these
things and I feel safe with any of the 3 I have used. I don't think I
would use a winch with any of them though.
Bill, KB3AUG
On Sat, 31 May 1997 14:15:37 -0600 al511@freenet.uchsc.edu (Robert Neece)
writes:
>
>
>Received the following interesting note from Terry, N4TZ:
>
>>My late two cents on gin poles - I agree the Rohn pole is not as
>strong as
>>some of the others you mentioned but consider the following:
>>
>>I have/had a genuine Rohn gin pole for 25/45 - it was great until a
>one
>>hp winch didn't stop quite in time and a snagged load bent the pole
>like
>>a banana. I replaced the original 1/8" wall tubing with 1/4" tubing
>that
>>was also longer - 16' versus the stock 12'. The revised gin pole
>therfore
>>is as strong as the others you mentioned. Now the bad news - it is
>also
>>now twice as heavy (walls twice as thick) and in my particular case,
>more
>>than twice as heavy because I went to a longer pole (12' is often too
>short,
>>and a 16' pole is long enuff to work with a 24' mast - that's what I
>was
>>raising when the winch went beserk). The extra weight is a real
>nuisance
>>to a person who weighs less than two sections of Rohn 45 and whose
>age
>>is approaching Rohn 55! Furthermore, the Rohn mechanism for
>attaching to
>>the tower leg is vastly superior to the WB0 style in that the
>tightening
>>of the gin pole reqires only one knob being turned - the two knobs on
>>the WB0 version appear to me to be a disadvantage while you are
>holding
>>the greater weight of the beefy gin pole with your arm across your
>body.
>>Remember, weight on a tower is a lot heavier than on the ground!
>>
>>To my mind the greatest advantage of the WB0 gin pole is that the
>clamps
>>will fit on almost any type of tower, not just 25/45. That's why my
>club
>>bought the WB0 pole on my recomendation after everyone oohed and
>ahhed
>>about seeing a real gin pole (the Rohn one I have) and thought it
>would
>>be nice for the club to own one for all the members with BX, Rohn 20,
>>and tv towers to use.
>>
>>It appears to be a nice gin pole, but again, not one for one-handed
>>operation in my experience.
>
>73 de Bob, K0KR
>
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