[Tower-Speak] ELECTRIC_TOWER_WINCH

[Mac McCullough]

there are several ways to solve this situation,  generally speaking,  if you 
have enough reduction multipliers 2 at least more nearly 3  all direct 
driven,  your chances are very slim you would see any unwinding of your 
take-up spool or drum ..  that's is a lot of force to make this much gear 
reduction start to unwind on it's own self,  including the static weight of 
the tower ,  and all it's apprutances..

But with all that said,  Bendix and several others make an ELECTRIC 
clutch/brake assembly that has a solenoid that when power is applied as a 
normal function to the winch motor,  this clutch scheme is also powered and 
the actual BRAKE is released and the motor turns and the winch will raise or 
lower as directed ..   So by now you got the picture,  when power is removed 
, the brake assembly locks into place and then you have an extra measure of 
safety and control ..  As well these assembly's have a mechanical release 
scheme where if you wanted to say LOWER the tower and had no electrical 
power, this release scheme will allow you to spool off the  motor shaft and 
lower the tower ..  keep in mind this last outline is under pretty severe 
conditions ..  normally these motors are C faced  and this brake box as it 
is fits over all the shaft and away you go ..

None of this is to my knowledge just a bolt up and play scheme,  but after 
so long you are ready to expend more brain power in lew of the jack 
Armstrong raising and lowering method ...  so you will come ahead ..

I earlier in my life had a HyGain 72'  and did that manual thing about once 
or twice and saw the light very quickly ..   in my case I had a small 3 
phase winch I had remove from a dies-continued project and spent a little 
time and welding and made it a very nice installation when it was all done, 
including limit switches to where it was just about emulating what is now US 
Tower method of electric powered raising and lowering ..

Interesting ?   to my knowledge when we all bought our HyGain towers I dont 
recall an ELECTRIC raising lowering option / add on feature being offered to 
us ..  they might have had it ,  but it seems like I would have bought it 
had it been available ...  What I do remember very clearly, was that I had 
just experienced a real  ass City of Dallas building official [ nearby 
neighbor ]  causing me such grief, that when I relocate , still within the 
Dallas city limits,  I went out to what was then AGL electronics .. and 
ordered the HyGain 52'  tower , this was so it would be impossible to be out 
of height compliance with the City .. so in due time after paying my money, 
HyGain first shipped the tower base, so I got busy and followed the 
instructions for dimensions and dutifully dug down to China and then sloshed 
in all the required concrete ..  and the base was set ..  in time a freight 
company person called and told me they were going to deliver the follow on 
tower it's self ..  and would I be able to unload this some how ..  I had 
made my plans and was all hot to go by that time so I was all set when the 
delivery truck arrived .. I had brought home a handful of guys from my work 
, and we unloaded the tower ...and struggled to get it into the yard and 
eventually around to the tower base location ..  and finally jogged into 
place ready to bolt up and then I had planned to leave it till I was ready 
for the next phase of getting it raised vertical ...

But it didn't fit the bolt pattern for the base I had received earlier and 
then placed into the ground and poured the 5-7 I forget yards of however 
much concrete it took ..
We were all stumped  ..  and I went ahead and sent all my labor help back to 
they're regular task ..  and as I studied it all ,   it became very clear, 
HyGain had sent me a base for a 72'  tower yet the tower proper I had just 
received was as I had ordered, a 52'  model ...  so I composed my wits and 
later that day called HyGain and outline the situation as I saw it,  and I 
assumed they would have some sort of adaptor bracket or something that I had 
not received ..  NOPE  I had indeed received a 72'  base that I had already 
installed ,   and followed with the 52' tower ,  and no , no adaptor base or 
scheme was offered .. What I should do was remove the installed base and 
they would furnish me the correct base,  and I'd be all set to go ..  I told 
the guy I was all set to go all right , just as soon as they sent me the 
matching 72' tower for the base section I had installed ...   but under no 
circumstances was I removing that base section and concrete, and starting 
all over ..     Later the following day hyGain called and said they would be 
sending a new 72' tower , and could I have the 52' just received tower ready 
to send back at the time of the 72' tower was delivered ..  so I said SURE 
!!   I can do that   ..  So after my best efforts to stay within the 65' 
City of Dallas tower height maximum .. through no fault of my own,  I was 
able to exceed that maximum height ..
In short order the nice jumbo sized 72' tower arrived on site , and was 
unloaded .. and blah blah ..  and as we were ready to load up the previously 
received 52' tower , the driver said no deal,  he didn't have any paper work 
to ACCEPT anything to be loaded , and I couldn't load it ..  after about 2 
years of trying to get HyGain to pick up the 52' tower , all the while 
enjoying the luxury of the 72' tower,  I finally ran an ad in the Dallas 
times Herald newspaper and sold the 52' tower ... and kept the dough .. for 
my efforts ..  because I had sincerely tried multiple,le times to get the 
52' footer returned to HyGain ..  but it never happened ..  so I counted 
myself at the end of it all doubly lucky ..  End of Story   ....  and that 
is the tower I ended up installing the electric winch onto  ....  So yes I 
know a bit about HyGain towers,  several years ago we relocated here to our 
present location, and I wanted something taller,  so as this house was 
smaller than the home we were leaving,  I had a Baby Grand Piano that we 
didn't see fitting into this home ..  so I said I would sell it and apply 
the proceeds toward a new US Tower 89'  with all the bells and whistles .. 
So I called ole Gerald at Texas tower and they had the entire US Tower 
product line on sale, so I went ahead and ordered the UST 89'   Texas Tower 
required full payment before ordering any tower of this  size and price .. 
and I could understand that as well.. so I called my bank and asked for a 
CASHIERS Check be prepared,  then asked my long time pal Don Smith  w5ds [ 
ex:  w5exp ]  to pickup the check from the bank and personally deliver the 
check to Texas Towers in Plano
Don did this,  and I presumed my BRAND new shinny UST 89'  would be ready to 
pick up and bring back to Texas and install...   so in due time and the guys 
at Texas tower sort of giving me the run around when I would call wanting to 
talk to Gerald,  to ask about going up to the new UST plant in Kansas as I 
recall  and picking up my new shinny tower ,  finally one day I was not 
going to be deterred , in speaking directly with Gerald ..  and in due time 
Gerald came onto the line and as we talked ,  he explained that my tower had 
not been ordered,  my urination level was rising pretty quickly already , 
so I asked WHY NOT !!  Gerald confessed , that indeed he did receive the 
BANK CASHIERS check ,  as best he could determine it had somehow become lost 
..  I got wound up pretty tight ..  and finally realized I was going to have 
to be the one to step up to the plate and get things off center,  TT was not 
inclined to move on any of this,  and THEY WERE NOT out the dough for a new 
tower ..  Having had some experience with banking by this time  [ April 
2003 ]  I knew that a CASHIERS CHECK to be replaced would require a BOND be 
issued for the full amount before the bank would cancel the previously 
issued check,  and issue a new check ..  meanwhile I was still hot , and 
heading for a lunar orbit ..  I was the injured party and it was me who was 
having to do all the leg work to make things right , and the delayed 
prospects of a new tower .. so I started the ball rolling to get a bond 
issued to the bank, but more pissed ..  I had been checking the QTH listings 
, and never anything like a UST 89' but I looked again and BINGO 15 minutes 
earlier one had been listed by a seller in southern CA, well it took me 
about 5 eyeblinks and I had that tower bought ..  and was making plans to 
drive out and tow it back ..  And what this did was free up about 3500 in 
project cash that I could have available to trick out the new site and 
really expand the quality of the whole installation...   and to date it has 
all worked out great ...  im a firm believer in the UST crank ups  as well 
the old Telex Sky Needle 90'  model ... I really like those models best .. 
UST makes a good product and pretty seamless to install ..  where as much as 
I like the Sky Needels , they do take a bit of effort to [ my words ] 
modernize them ..  but once your done with replacing the Bronze bushings and 
cables ..  and motor and raising and lowering scheme and getting rid of all 
that antiquated tube timers and get in some good relays .. it then become a 
real work horse , and can carry a lot of weight and wind loading ..

OK  long answer to your question, but yup, it can be done and WELLL   ... 
gud luk   mac/mc  w5mc


Located 46 miles due North of the Alamo, and 121 miles due South of the 
Western White House.   see my website at  www.collinsandharrisradios.com
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "George K" <w2yj at highstream.net>
To: <tower-speak at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2006 5:55 PM
Subject: [Tower-Speak] ELECTRIC_TOWER_WINCH


I am looking for a suitable 120Vac tower winch. I do have a question that is 
bothering me about the winches I have seen for pulling.
What mechanism in the electric winches keeps the tower "UP" for extended 
periods? I would like a winch with a positive mechanical break but most of 
the winch specs say nothing about use for towers???
How can I be sure that a winch I may purchase will not release its load and 
free wheel the tower down.
Right now I'm using a 3000 pound worm gear winch that I propel with my 
electric drill but that is getting old. The drill gets very hot and whines 
about the load!!!
The tower is a Hy-Gain HG52SS 3 section crank up.
I see Glen Martin has a "Strong Arm" electric winch but what is inside to 
positively hold the tower in the "UP" position?
Thanks.
George  W2YJ
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