I like my raising fixture. I first had my doubts when my elbow ran out of
grease. Then my dad suggested using a professional drill with high torque
connected to the winch handle shaft. Now it is a breeze to work on the
antenna. The drill works great for titling the tower over. You must use a
high torque drill! I smoked my first Sears "best" model.
With the raising fixture almost all of the antenna work can be performed
when the tower is tilted over from a tall 10+ ft step ladder. I feel this is
better than climbing at 30 foot step ladder but not as much fun as climbing
a 120ft SSV. Please keep in mind that for me playing with different antenna
configurations is one of the best parts of the hobby. To tune my 40 meter
beam I made about 10 adjustments and I had to tilt over the tower for each
adjustment. But now I am very happy with the gain and FB.
Now for the rotor debate, my brand new 1000DX would not turn the tower
(MA850) effectively. I had to upgrade my rotor. My beam has a 8 sqft wind
load. It does take extra effort from the rotor to turn the whole tower. If
you think your rotor can be mast mounted and still handle your beam you can
save some big bucks.
Best Regards,
Ko7p
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-towertalk@contesting.com
[mailto:owner-towertalk@contesting.com]On Behalf Of Roger Gagos
Sent: Wednesday, September 26, 2001 10:49 PM
To: towertalk@contesting.com
Subject: [TowerTalk] U.S. Tower Raising Fixtures MAF-XXX
Hello Everyone,
Thanks for all the information; the contributions since I subscribed several
weeks back have been most interesting and quite a few relevant to my
situation.
I'm currently in the building permit process on what will (hopefully!) be a
nicely-installed MA-550 crank-up mast. I will be using the MARB-550 rotor
base with my shiny new Yaesu G-1000DXA rotor.
I'd like to hear from anyone who has installed one of the U.S. Tower
MA-series masts and the rotor OR freestanding base regarding their use of
(or non-use of!) the MAF Series raising fixture. It seems like a good idea
for installation and working on antennas without having to strap a ladder on
the retracted mast or other scheme. Or...is it a waste of time and money
once you have the tower installed on the base. I don't plan on changing the
antennas real often. The array will consist of a small-to-medium size HF
multi-band yagi (type to be determined), a multiband VHF/UHF yagi, and a
5-foot omni 2M/440 MHz. vertical. Roof access will be difficult in this
case, so I will need some way to get to the tower top from ground
(retracted, about 24') without risking my neck.
Thanks for reading! I'm looking forward to any comments or suggestions
based on first-hand experience.
73,
Roger, K6EQ
Escondido, CA
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List Sponsored by AN Wireless: AN Wireless handles Rohn tower systems,
Trylon Titan towers, coax, hardline and more. Also check out our self
supporting towers up to 100 feet for under $1500!! http://www.anwireless.com
-----
FAQ on WWW: http://www.contesting.com/FAQ/towertalk
Submissions: towertalk@contesting.com
Administrative requests: towertalk-REQUEST@contesting.com
Problems: owner-towertalk@contesting.com
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