GLEN MARTIN TOWER USERS: CAUTION!!!!

[w0bkr]

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Working with a friend of mine recently, encountered a situation where the GM Tower, M1350 series, had the Hazer get stuck at the top of the tower with the cable coming detached from the Hazer.

The situation now is the hazer is resting on the safety latch at the top of the tower (and you can't climb these towers), with the antenna system unable to be raised or lowered. Tyring to find a bucket truck or similar to get up to the top of the tower to re-attach the cable with better clamping so the system can be lowered.

What was discovered was the cable stop that is installed by GM prior to shipment, was improperly secured and over time, the cable that raises and lowers the Hazer was slipping out of the cable stop. At the least, there should have been a back up safety device on the cable where the cable passes thru the top of the Hazer.

If the safety latch had been secured so that the antenna system could be lowered without having to continually work the safety latch, the entire antenna system would have come down the tower within a second or less, possibly killing or seriously injuring the operator at the base working the winch system.

As a precaution, check your cable stop and install a back up clamp at the top of the hazer as well in the even one fails the other willl back it up.

I shudder to think what might have happened in this sitiuation due to poor engineering and quality control.