I missed the original question about the Force 12 LPT 1242. Whoever it
was call or email me direct and I will help walk you through the process.
Mark
Force12.mark@mac.com
940-683-8371
On 3/18/10 1:04 AM, towertalk-request@contesting.com wrote:
> 6. Re: Force-12 LPT-1242 Cable Replacement experiences?
> (Leigh L. Klotz, Jr WA5ZNU)
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 6
> Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 22:37:20 -0700
> From: "Leigh L. Klotz, Jr WA5ZNU"<Leigh@WA5ZNU.org>
> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Force-12 LPT-1242 Cable Replacement
> experiences?
> To: "Tower and HF antenna construction topics."
> <towertalk@contesting.com>
> Message-ID:<4BA1BC10.8090808@WA5ZNU.org>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>
> This messages provides some, but not all, details about the cable
> replacement process for a Force-12 LPT-1242.
> As the cables are internal to the structure, it's an involved operation.
>
> I had JV K6JHU and Bob K6XX from the Santa Cruz, CA area replace the two
> non-winch cables in my Force-12 LPT-1242.
> (Steve K7LXC who originally did the installation was unavailable during
> the time I needed the work done.)
>
> For documentation, I received a PDF drawing from Mark at the new
> Force-12, but it was a broad outline only, and didn't specify routing,
> parts, or tolerances. I ended up purchasing 100ft of 1/8" 7x19
> galvanized wire rope and matching Nicopress sleeves (zinc-plated
> copper). It appeared the original cable was 3/16" but had grown a bit
> in some spots, so I mistook it for 1/8". The 1/8" cable fits fine on
> the fiber pulleys, though, so we (by we, I mean mostly JV and Bob, while
> I watched) used it. We used two crimped Nicopress sleeves for each wire
> termination, and bolt cutters ($20) to cut the wire rope cleanly.
>
> The four Delrin bumpers at the top of the top two sections had to be
> removed, and their rivets drilled out, in order to disassemble the tower
> for cable replacement. For replacement, 1/2" long rivets were too long,
> so we used two washers on the exterior of the tower to keep the rivet
> shaft from going through the Delrin bumper and scraping against the
> aluminum mast. The washers were next to the rivets at Home Depot,
> though not in stack at Orchard Supply Hardware.
>
> There are some obstacles to navigate through as well, getting past the
> bumpers. I won't describe the internal cable routing.
>
> One of the wire ropes somehow wasn't taut once when we put the tower
> back up, and that stopped the tower rise because it became fouled in the
> pulley inside the tower. Luckily, it's possible to make it taut again
> by removing the Nicopress sleeves (not a fun task) and shortening the
> cable from the outside.
>
> The tower itself had about a half-gallon of water collected inside the
> base, even though there was a drain hole in the center, and the base was
> mounted on washers giving ground clearance. The hole appeared to be
> plugged with mud. We drilled four more base holes in the bottom plate.
>
> Leigh/WA5ZNU
>
>
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