In a message dated 6/11/2006 9:01:34 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
towertalk-request@contesting.com writes:
> My XYL is urging me to consider a crank-up (and possibly a tilt-over
crank-up) to avoid the necessity of climbing the thing, and also partly
for a more neighbor-friendly installation.
> 1. Does anybody have any experience or opinions of the Heights aluminum
towers? -- in addition to the reviews on eham.net.
I'm not a big fan of aluminum towers - and crank-ups in particular. I
just helped a guy crank up a 100-footer. IMO some of the hardware is pretty
small compared to other manufacturers; it wasn't really confidence instilling.
It has to be guyed at each section, thus putting lots more strain on the main
cables. You have to crank the whole thing up before you can attach the guys
and it's a pretty scary proposition. We had comealongs attached to the guys at
one level and you have to do it on a totally windless day. He'd have been
much better off - and saved thousands of dollars - by putting up 45G or some
other tower.
BTW it's also the same big chore and a couple of hours to crank it down
so once it's up - it's up for the duration.
> 2. If a crank-up lattice tower gets iced up, is it pretty much stuck at
its current height until the thaw sets in?
Yessireebob.
If you're going to get a crank-up, I'd recommend one of the steel
ones by US Towers. You can crank it up and down any time you want, ice loading
aside.
Cheers,
Steve K7LXC
TOWER TECH -
Professional tower services for hams
Cell: 206-890-4188
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
|