Dale:
I also have a WT51 and taught my sons and XYL (WY5H-Cheryl) how to lower it in a
hurry if the storm--thunderstorms do have a nasty habit of popping up suddenly
in
North Texas at a moment's notice here on the southern end of Tornado Alley) came
up and it was cranked up and I wasn't at home. Our youngest son, now 18,
learned
from when he was about 13 how to crank it down in a hurry. I just took him
outside and I cranked it up and let him crank it down and got through to him how
important it was to get it down in a hurry if mom and or dad weren't home. He
soon got in the habit of even telling me if I WAS home when the sky got dark and
whey was I going to crank the tower down. Few times even got wet when the rain
got here before I got to the tower. Its amazing how fast you can get a WT51
down
if its raining. Last year our station took a lighting hit that took out several
home computers, the 2m Icom DX cluster radio, a PK232 TNC and smoked the IBM 286
I was using as my packet computer. The 286 and the ICOM were hopeless cases,
but
everything else was repaired by the insurance company. The WT51 was cranked
DOWN
at the time of the strike and I had everything unplugged, but the 2m packet
antenna (an Isopole 2 meter, up about 40 ft even though the tower was cranked
down). Never did figure out where the lighting hit didn't damage the Mosley
tribander or the Isopole or fry the coax, but it fried the boards, etc. in the
Ham IV rotor. But the 286 was "smoked" in more ways than one, it filled the
shack with smoke.
I'm in the process of replacing and rebuilding everything and the beam is on the
ground and I've replaced the Isopole with a Cushcraft ARX270 2m/440 dual bander.
Just got to rent a scissors lift to help lift me and the antennas, mast, etc. up
to 20 ft. As you know the WT51, even cranked down is not that easy to hang off
of with a climbing belt. Got two Poly Phaser lightning arrestors for the HF and
VHF/UHF antenna, have a main copper buss bar mounted on the shelf with the rigs
and a single common point ground.
Oh, yes the phone company replaced the terminal block outside the house since
the
old terminal block was apparently carboned by the strike.
When I took down all the old coax and rotor cable (RG213 and 9913 flexi) found a
whole bunch of cuts or holes caused by the lightning arching.
Again even if the WT51 had been cranked down it can still be damaged.
Now if I can just find an extra base for the WT 51. Nothing wrong with the
present one in the ground, just if XYL and I ever move after the last son has
flown the nest, we may move to the country and put up something taller and has
electric pull up/positive pull down.
73 es have a good day and a better one tomorrow.
Also anyone on list know of any ham stores in Reno, Nevada. XYL and I are going
there in a couple weeks and just wanted to look around, besides losing money in
the hotel casino.
Tom, WW5L
Dale L Martin wrote:
> While I don't have a crankup tower, I belong to a club which had a W-51.
>
> After a time, it was too much trouble to lower the tower after any
> on-the-air ops at the club station.
>
> One night, a thunderstorm with a little wind microburst caused the tower
> midsection to buckle bringing down the 2m vertical, 6-element 10m beam and
> KT34A. We were very fortunate that the tower section failed on the side
> that it did. Had it gone in either of two other directions, building damage
> would have been sustained. As it was, the vertical and mast were driven a
> couple of feet into an open grassy area.
>
> Had we had a motorized winch on the tower, I'm certain the operator(s) would
> have taken the time and effort to lower it prior to leaving the club
> station. As it was, it was left up.
>
> It seems to me that if a tower cannot be cranked up and down at least on a
> few times on a weekly basis, then maybe one should consider another tower
> manufacturer.
>
> 73,
> dale, kg5u
>
> >
> > The comment about not raising and lowering too often hits me. I
> > had always
> > thought that the crank-uo (and tiltover) tower was such so that
> > it could be
> > done at will. I even read that one person cranked up at dusk and
> > down when
> > finished!
> >
> > To me why spend all that extra money and be not able to use the feature?
> >
> > Chris opr Ve7HCB
> >
> > At 12:38 PM 2001-11-22 -0500, K2we@aol.com wrote:
> >
>
> > >My LM-470D has been up for over 25 years. The secret is to limit
> > the amount
> > >of raising & lowering. It puts tremendous force on the cables.
>
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List Sponsored by AN Wireless: AN Wireless handles Rohn tower systems,
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