On Saturday, February 08, 1997 3:37 AM, K7BG Matt Trott[SMTP:aa7bg@3rivers.net]
wrote:
>I thought I'd post this of yesterday evening in hopes it might help others
>who "get in a hurry."
>
>I was monitoring one of our local repeaters yesterday afternoon when a
>scratchy signal came on. It was a ham calling for help. He was on his
>crank-up tower attempting to repair his rotor. Another ham engaged him in
>QSO before I could grab the mike and all listening soon learned that the
>distressed ham had his foot caught in his crank-up tower. My guts started to
>knot as I heard transmissions such as: "It's tearing my foot off" -- "I need
>help fast.." --etc.
>
>Well the paramedics were summonsed via a 911 call as this ham was in a
>rural location. His wife had been with him, but I'm not sure all the details
>at this time. Apparently she was able to take some of the weight off his
>foot in some manner. The good news is that before help arrived he was able
>to free his foot and it looks like the damage is luckily only a badly
>bruised foot and maybe some damaged pride.
>
>This ham apparently thought his crank-up was all the way down before he
>climbed it and so he didn't block it to be safe. He is VERY lucky his foot
>is still attached to his leg.
>
>Crank-ups are MACHINES first and towers second. Give it the respect/fear it
>deserves!
>
>73, Matt--K7BG
>
>
>--
>FAQ on WWW: http://www.contesting.com/towertalkfaq.html
>Submissions: towertalk@contesting.com
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>
>
Good story, Matt. I used to sweat bricks while climbing the
old crank-up at W5RRR (club station at work)--it's on the ground on
blocks now and looking for a new owner...
What is the current philosophy about blocking the sections? What's
reliable? What's not? Should the sections be blocked with weight on
the blocks and low tension in the cable?
I don't have to climb crank-ups anymore...we have a free standing
50' tower, an 80' tower, and a 20' OSCAR (Shuttle/Mir) tower.
73,
Dale Martin, KG5U
kg5u@hal-pc.org
http://www.hal-pc.org/~kg5u
--
FAQ on WWW: http://www.contesting.com/towertalkfaq.html
Submissions: towertalk@contesting.com
Administrative requests: towertalk-REQUEST@contesting.com
Problems: K7LXC@contesting.com
Sponsored by Akorn Access, Inc & N4VJ / K4AAA
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