>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
Thanks for sharing this, Matt.
Being "in a hurry" was not his problem. Climbing a crankup was . . .
The rule is never, Never, NEVER, ever, Ever, EVER climb a crankup. Even if
it is down and even if you have it safety blocked. I wouldn't even stand
one one that is laying on the ground horizontally.
Is there something unclear about this message that ALL crankup manufacturers
clearly give to their customers?
I actually HAVE climbed crankups in the past. Some were all the way up (how
else do you install the blocks between sections so you can take the tension
off the cable?) All I can say is that I can't believe how incredibly STUPID
I was when I did it. I was lucky then and much wiser now . . .
Stan w7ni@teleport.com
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