VE6WZ Crank up Tower failure
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- Опубликовано: 15 сен 2024
- I explain why my main lift cable failed on the US Tower HDX-589mdpl, and show what the wreckage looks like. I also give a little detail on the new 160m TX array, since it was related modifications that caused the failure.
I think the main lesson learned is actually a lesson re-learned - familiarity breeds contempt. It is too easy to not inspect everything thoroughly after a windstorm, and we all know it is a bad idea to be up in the air on a manlift while the tower is going up, especially without having spotter. "It's been fine for decades, so it is fine today" is the same as "I have always done it this way and never had a problem with it."
Glad you are OK, and glad you shared this. We all need these reminders occasionally to keep us from getting hurt by our passions.
I'm glad you are doing fine after the tower failure. If I were on your shoes, I would thank GOD for saving your life. Other than that, enjoy your family while you can and keep improving your ham radio knowledge.
God? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Why thank God? Don't you know God caused the tower to fall? It's all part of his plan, right?
10-4 on that
Just glad you were not hurt man. Thank you for this educational opportunity in the midst of rather large financial setback.
Thanks for the video. You are a stand-up guy to tell us WHY the failure occurred.
HI Steve, disheartened to see crank tower failure, but happy that you are safe and courageous to share learning from failure. As i followed your channel over years, what was learnt is much valuable. Your style of sharing is to the precise both in what to do and what not to do.
All the best for your new array project, and looking forward for your video on the system.
Namaste
Kiran VU2XE
My condolences, I have found from experience that the consequences of failing to manage gravity's influence is proportion to the amount of investment and effort put defying it. You learnt so much from your experiments time for a new project. 73 G8WOF Wirral UK
Glad you're ok Steve. That's a lot of metal coming down at a high speed. Interesting 3 element antenna, I look forward to the detailed video. 73 de w8tam
Sorry to hear about this. Thankful you are ok. Enjoy your videos. 73 Gordy N4LR
Glad you were not injured. You will rebuild and continue provide the rest of us great, useful information. Would love to hear more about radials both buried and elevated...realizing elevated is not suitable for your scenario. Carry on Steve.
Wow! That is quite the failure… Certainly glad to hear that no one was injured, that could have been catastrophic. Sorry for your loss, but I as well as many others and glad to hear your positive attitude and your sharing this information. Be safe, or have fun, but be careful…
Hi Steve......... you are one lucky guy.......... towers can be replaced, you cannot be, moving parts esp ones that are motor driven are always dangerous........73 Mike K1FNX near Boston
The important thing is that you're okay. The other stuff, while disheartening to lose, can be replaced.
Looking forward to learning more about your efforts on 160. I've never had the space or suitable location to even come close to a proper antenna for that frequency range, so I'll be watching with great interest.
73 de N8ESP
Whew. Glad you're ok! New safety rule: don't be within the "drop zone" when it is moving.
Awe, nothing a pair of pliers and a can of silver spray-paint can't fix!
I was also thinking you might have lost the base; I've heard of HyGain 70's crashing into the base.
Wow, sorry for your loss (probably worse than losing some friends--LOL)!
Anyway, so glad you weren't injured. For me I'd replace it but I understand well you point.
I think this video was the first ever recommended, so at least you're for sure getting new viewers! So, SUBSCRIBED!!!
Good luck on your new project and the very best to you! 73...
Glad you're OK Steve. I love your videos - they have inspired some of my own LF exploits and shack automation. This latest one also serves as a 'caution' message for when I work on my own motorised tower.
My best wishes for your next steps. 73 de David G3WGN M6O
Sorry that this happened...I can only imagine how you feel....
Thank God you made it out unharmed.
Looking forward to hearing your 160 array.
Although I'm relatively close I'm sure I will see when you switch directions.
KL7KY
You are a Very Fortunate Man to be Alive! This could have gone differently... I hope you get back to where you were and thank you for sharing what caused this... KC3ZDW
Thanks for the video explaining the failure. 73
Thing 1: Glad you're alright, that's so much more important than materials loss
Thing 2: Damn!
Wow what a project! Glad you were not injured/killed when the tower fell. Count your blessings.
Very glad you was not injured. 73 Leo
Great reminder why we should never work alone climbing towers or on a lift. A second person outside the danger zone will be able to call/radio for help and may be able to render aid on seen if needed. Our club has a strict two-man rule for tower work.
Holy smokes, that must have been a terrifying experience! So sorry to hear about this happening. If there is anything I can do to help with the cleanup or whatever please feel free to get in touch.
Steve, you are one of the many to disprove "nobody builds things anymore". Also your explanation of parasitic verticals is easy to understand. Antennas are not 'magic' but obey the laws of physics.
Interesting. A friend and I where just chatting about the old 11m Super Scanner antenna. That was a 3 el vertical, switchable from Omni to 1 of 3 different directions. I like your setup. 73 Marv N0FJP
Steve, sorry to see but happy you are uninjured. Thanks for sharing not only your techniques and approaches with us but also your failures. 73
Wow, as a new ham, I must say this is so educational. Thanks for sharing
a bummer for sure! I am sure you will get it all worked out with time. We are close enough for 160, 80 and 40m contacts now I think. best of luck to ya and I'll look for your call on the air.
Good job fella. Way to go. PS Love the triangle.
I have a friend/neighbor who has been looking for a US Tower Wrench. KB5ZZB good on QRZ Hope you get everything fixed up
The old saying if it doesn't come down in a storm it wasn't big enough might apply.
Oh dear. Good luck with the repairs. 73
Crikey, and you were right beside it while it was collapsing. That must have been 'exciting'... So glad that you're okay.
I had a similar problem on my 15M two stage tower, a section of the wire rope that is normally not visible around an upper pulley developed a bad spot of rust and fractures as I was lowering it. Luckily it didn't fall anywhere as far as yours, yes tower damage, however the antenna's were mostly unscaved, although not quite as straight as they used to be, I didn't have any 'aluminium rain'
I live in a suburban block, so no massive HF beams that would hang over my fence line. VHF, UHF & the centre for inverted V style HF wire antenna's, and a camera - So I can literally say "I'm looking at you" as I swing the beams around. Paul VK3TGX
thanks for sharing
Ouch! 😩🥺Glad you are ok to antenna play another day!!! 73 de VK2AOE
Steve, I’m so glad you weren’t hurt (or worse!). Regarding ground radials, would not a mesh grid be a simpler and possibly cheaper option under the tower?
Steel mesh? It'll rust and cause you nightmare noise levels forever. Never bury steel mesh.
@@stargazer7644 What about copper mesh? I know that the grounding under the Wullenweber arrays used by the USN and Canada placed coper underground, beneath the array when they were constructed close to my QTH back in around 1970.
@@volodyacanuke Where would you get copper mesh, and how would you interconnect the pieces? Running copper ground radials is pretty simple.
A very experienced ham is not a very experienced mechanical engineer. Glad you are OK!
I'm great at straightening alloy poles. Shame I'm not in the area to help.
And I'm just fretting over getting a 32' tower in my back yard for a Cobbweb in the big city.
So did you have a clean pair of shorts with you, or did you have to run home to get them? Glad you weren't injured.
I would like to see a demo of radials removed and reconnected on a relay while watching a weak signal on receive.
Recently I contacted NZ from France on 11M Using a vertical on USB. At the time I had my vertical just above roof height and I have a large shallow metal roof. The antenna is on an 11m mast to ground but touching the ridge line of the metal roof. At the time It was at around 7M heigh and only just above the metal roof. However the metal roof is all to the North. Normally I would expect it to pull my Signal Northwards. We were on the longpath to NZ so perhaps being close to the roof helped. Also works great at 11M but I didn't hear NZ yet at that height (it's rare to hear NZ on 11M from Europe but can happen). My antenna is a loaded 5/8th wave with 20x radials at 90 degree to the antenna. Not the best antenna I've owned but not bad either.
The radials on the ground if not connected will still help so a relay A versus B test for "receive" might not make a big difference.
I am basing this on when was working skip on 11 or 10 meters with my car on the US 101 Freeway in California. A long distance chat to NZ would be OK then fantastic as one crossed over a metal bridge; then drop down into the mud when past the bridge.
When parked in a vacant spot I had some copper wire radials to connect to the ground base on the 1/4 wave whip. The signals would be higher before the wire was connected up.
With an swr sweep the bandwidth would be more with less radials since the lossy soil asphalt is like a lossy series resistor.
I the backyard I ran a sweep test with a 1/4 wave whip and measured the swr adding lengths of #18 wire 1/4 wave. ie None; 2; 3 4; 8 ,16 32. The resonant freq shifts some and gets sharper with more radials.
Had a mess of speaker cable in 18# zip cord. So for portable had 4 groups of 4 #18 single wires 12 and 16 ft.
Too many got to be a rats nest; so used 4 wires going to 1 at the aluminum tapped whip bracket.
Oh man😮
interest is to learn from your misfortune not denigrate you...at least that is my take...thank creation you are well as an outcome. Dale KC7IVJ
So it seems a cable failed and the tower just came down unchecked?
You could collect that black sand from the gold mining guys and put that down over the radials. Or iron ore crushed up. Iron is cheap so if you knew of a foundry they may be able to provide an iron ore already crushed.
Rust is a very bad thing to have in a high RF environment. It will cause all kinds of noise and passive intermod problems.
Couldn't you save the tower and repair it ?
It's wrecked. Structurally unsound.
You don't do things like that if you value your life and property.
Bummer
$40k loss - "Kinda sucks, but that's ham radio"
Why did it collapse and fall?
Did you WATCH the video?
@@WarrenPostma yes but didn't understand what you said at first, so I watched it again.
Does your insurance cover your loss??
If there was you wouldn't want to have posted a video in which you discuss the circumstances in which it fell due to potential operator error.
😮😮 Oops. !
There was no “failure”, you broke it. 🙂 Oh well, you’re wealthy so just fix it better than it was and move on. But thanks for the video.
If it was easy, EVERYONE would do it. Dave N9HF