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| Reviews Summary for Glen Martin Hazer system |
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Reviews: 19
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Average rating: 3.2/5
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MSRP: $$389
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Description: wench operated tower tram system for raising and lowering antennas without having to climb the tower
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More info: http://
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W0BKR
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Rating: 2/5
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Feb 12, 2009 06:53
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Weak Design - Needs Work
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I have had a Hazer system for about 10 years now. The cable GM uses on their hazer in my opinion is weak. The cable sleeves that hold the cable to the hazer is very, very weak. I recommend you add some securing of your oan at the base of the rotor plat form and at the top of the hazer in case one of the sleeves or cable at that point fails. At least you have something.
YOU CANNOT CLIMB THESE TOWERS.
They are not structurally strong enough for that and the rungs will bend easily.
Instructions are non-existent and the workmanship is okay but not the best.
All in all, way over priced for what you get. For a 50 Ft tower, it shouldn't cost over $1000. It actually lists in the $2000 range.
You can get a crank up tower for that price which is what I should have done.
Every time it storms, I shudder with that thing in the yard. Never worried with my Rohn!
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WU5E
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Rating: 4/5
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Oct 25, 2008 07:51
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Not bad at all
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I have owned the Hazer HD for my Rohn 25 tower for 3 years. not a problem has occured.
I hate climbing so this was a god send.
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KB0QC
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Rating: 2/5
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Oct 10, 2008 14:17
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Hazer 2
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I just purchased the Hazer 2 system. now after finding this section, I find that the product is over priced for what you get in return. The documentation for it is just plain awful. No support from Glen Martin. Trying to put the thing together without any type of instruction is a nightmare. I have it mounted at the base of my Rohn 25, 40 feet. cant figure out the safety latch system, nothing is marked, no instructions and dont have a clue. I have searched the internet trying to find information and its not there.
I have been reading all of the reports here on EHam, wish I had read it first before wasting my hard earned money. I hope some of you can advise me on what to do. The idea is good its just the product is not worth the trouble, if all you have to do is modify it. Hell I havent even raise or lowered it yet
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KB9XH
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Rating: 1/5
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Sep 25, 2007 14:46
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A good Idea but needs to be built much stronger
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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You don't have to be too smart to assemble it but a little more instruction would have helped. Also a list of spefifications such as weight of load allowed along with the wind load allowed should have been included in the manual. I basically assembled mine just looking at the very simple drawing provided in the manual.
I am now a disabled person and can no longer climb my tower. I thought this would solve the problem by being able to lower my antennas and work on them. Instead it has caused me to be dependent on others to help everytime something breaks
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W1CTN
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Rating: 3/5
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Aug 29, 2007 10:24
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Middle of the road
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I have a GM H4 Hazer on my tower. It supports a Tennadyne T10 Log Periodic, Ham 4 rotor and 2m/440 vertical on a 50 ft Rohn 25 tower. The system has been up for 4 years now and I have the following comments of it. I perform a bi-annual maintenance on it since I installed it.
It does what is advertised to do, hoist an antenna up a fixed tower. How well is another statement.
I have a brake winch option with mine that should be included as a standard feature and not as an option.
The hoist Cable is in fine condition but the winch housing is showing corrosion. Is a plated steel winch housing the best they could come up with? Stainless or galvanized should be standard as it is out in the weather.
The roller wheels are a joke. The only way to keep them rolling is to make them too loose for comfort. All mine do is keep the hazer properly spaced from the tower, they never roll.
Instruction manual is very poor. Someone without mechanical training would need some assitance in assembling the hazer.
Quality control on the parts were poor. I had to clean out many holes before assembly.
Let me close in saying that on the plus side, it hasn't fallen apart and aside from some problems, I think it will do as the designers intended it to do. I would not buy another, as I'm sure I can homebrew a better one.
Dave
W1CTN
w1ctn@yahoo.com
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KL8DX
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Rating: 4/5
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Aug 26, 2007 14:11
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Worked for me but...
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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I purchased the Hazer4 and I was a little worried about some of the reviews I read . Several of the other posts had valid points. I purchased the following;
Hazer 4
Brake Winch
Heavy Duty Pulley Block
Roller Bearings
The brake winch is a must in my opinion. An option I am glad I spent the extra money on. Sure helps as once you get a good size beam, rotor, mast and the Hazer on the tower, lots of weight to manage.
The heavy duty pulley block is questionable. I do see that the cable if slack, can find itself between the pulley and the pulley housing rendering the pulley useless. I read of one other ham having this problem and it actually happened to me in the "beginning" stages of putting the Hazer system on the tower. With that in mind, if you use theirs, I would suggest not sitting the Hazer on a rung taking the weight off of the cable. I find it works best about 1 crank above a rung so the cable cannot achieve any slack allowing it to jump the pulley.
The roller bearing kit was a waste of money in my opinion. The rollers are uneven and do not roll smoothly as it navigates up and down the tower. This does have potential but the way they are currently manufactured and connected to the Hazer finds them more of a useless add on than anything.
The Hazer instructions are less than poor. When it comes to towers and safety, the poor directions supplied can certainly lead to safety issues if the system is not built properly. You will have to take your time and look at various photos and look for photos on the internet. This was the only way I found when trying to piece the system together.
The crank housing also left something to be desired. I have a Rohn 25 and there is a very close tolerance between the crank and how it is mounted to the tower itself. When cranking the tower, the handle to the crank has to be pulled outward so it does not hit the side of the tower. I tried several configurations but modifying the handle was necessary for me.
The Hazer worked its way up my tower the first time very well. All in all, the concept is great and with a little more tweaking, Glen Martin could have a trouble free system. I purchased the system only because it is too costly for me to have a crank up tower delivered to my QTH but I also wanted to ability to lower my array due to the high winds we experience here, hopefully extending the life of my antennas and rotor.
The folks at Glen Martin worked with me on my rural shipping needs and they were quick to respond to my e-mails and to ship the Hazer to my QTH. I rated this a "4" because it does work for me but be prepared to spend lots of time in putting the system together. I built mine over the course of last winter, thankfully. Some of the tolerances could have been better. All in all, when you can't get a crank up tower and don't want to climb, this may be the way to go. I have a tilt base for my Rohn 25 so I just laid my tower over to install the system so no climbing was required.
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N5WBK
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Rating: 5/5
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Jul 19, 2007 15:34
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Better Than Climbing
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I bought my first Hazer about 20 years ago and was not too happy with catching on sections of my Rohn tower, going up or down. I was looking at their website a few years ago and noticed the roller kit had come out. My tower came down in a freak storm and I added 10ft to the tower to make it a total of 60 feet. Ordered the roller kit and have been happy with it since. I have since added an electric winch to it so I don’t have to crank anymore. I have installed this year another one for my other Rohn tower and substituted for the better winch and heavier pulley with the roller kit. I recommended the heavier pulley for big arrays. I am going to replace mine some time in the future because of the Mosley Pro 57B on it as well as Mosley 14 element 2 meter beam on the same mast. I have had great service from their staff and no problems in the assembly of both Hazers’. As far as the messenger line I have made my own from 3/16 inch cable and attached coaxes and rotor wire to it with wire ties works great. Also I have a 4 foot steel angle iron attached to the top of the Hazer with a pulley on it to pull my invert v up to the top.
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W7CNL
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Rating: 4/5
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Mar 5, 2007 21:39
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A no climb tram system
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Climbing towers is something I don't enjoy and the Hazer seemed like a logical choice for me. I was fortunate to know a local who had one which gave me an opportunity to look it over and consider available options before I placed my order. I have no doubt that the standard features are adequate, however, I like to live on the safe side and opted for the roller bearing set, heavy duty pulley block and upgraded brake winch with 3/16" cable extras. This added to the overall cost but was worth the added expensive in my opinion. I think some owners have exceeded the specs which has led to some unfortunate situations. The galvanized steel H4 seems quite strong and will handle 200 lbs of dead weight and has a wind load ability of 16 sq ft. The rotor shelf is drilled to handle a TB-25 thrust bearing which is no longer available and I was not anxious to redrill a new shelf to accomodate something different. Fortunately, I advertised for and found a TB-25. Even if your Rohn 25G is straight it may require a few trips up the tower, with hammer in hand, to fix a few spots that the Hazer hangs up on as it travels up and down your tower. Be sure to do some trial runs before you load it up with an antenna. The company is very responsive to questions and furnishing documentation should you need it. I still think a strong, self supporting tower is the better way to go but is very expensive and this system provides an economical alternative. If you have an existing 25G tower no taller than 50 ft to accommodate the one set of guys allowed at the top, this system may work well for you. Overall, a good idea and a good product.
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WM1G
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Rating: 2/5
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Jan 5, 2007 18:28
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poor customer service
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I've had a Hazer 4 for about 10 years now. When I bought it there were so many missing and incorrect parts that it took a month to get the kit ready to assemble. Technically it works as advertised. I have it up 42 feet. The messenger line kit is flimsy, especially the spring that brings the "Latch" to the hoziontal position to rest on the tower. I'm always worried that when I need to use it, the spring will break and I'll have to lower the antenna (TH7DX) all the way without having a place to rest it on the way down for safety purposes. The other flimsy part is the pulley on the top. It is bolted to the tower in two places but the pulley wheel is aluminum and looks as if it could fall apart.
IMPORTANT!!!!!-----> when you are done operating you should always bring the antenna to a "SAFE" azimuth position on the rotor. The elements on the beam have to fit over the tower on the way down. If the rotor breaks (mine did) you will NOT repeat NOT be able to bring down the assembly. So every time you QRT remember to bring the beam to a pre-determined position so it can fit down over the tower. I had to put the guy system above the HAZER and as a result, 2 of the 3 guys must be disassembled for the same reason of the elements being in the way of the guy system.
Customer service is nasty! They did not care about their errors. It's hard to do business with people that treat you like that.
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W7RJR
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Rating: 2/5
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Aug 7, 2006 23:32
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Needs work!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I purchased an H3 hazer for use with my 30 foot Rohn 25G tower. A friend of mine is delighted with his so I ignored the reviews I found here. I shouldn't have. The instructions that come with it consists of 2 pages of useless verbiage. The date on the instruction sheet is in the year 2000. It is virtually impossible to figure out where to begin assembling this thing. The drawings (not photos) are amateurish and lack detail. Essential views are missing. The parts are not marked in any way. It is important that two main frame pieces with 'holes for the cable' be positioned in a certain way, but the instructions never cover it. I called Glen Martin for a little assistance on how to put this puzzle together. The first guy that answered wasn't familiar with the hazer system. The second guy told me he had no other instructions to offer me, but had a list of parts which he emailed me. Unfortunately, that was all it was, a list of parts. After several hours of reading this pamphlet, looking at photos on the internet and scratching my head I finally figured out how to do it.
I realized that I had neglected to order the thrust bearing. Much to my surprise and chagrin they no longer stocked the thrust bearing. They suggested I order a Yaesu replacement (065) which I was told was an exact replacement-- not so. You have to ream out the holes in the platform to make it fit.
The twine they provide for the latch will need to be replaced as I'm certain it will eventually fail. Even with the optional wheels, the hazer gets stuck on the Rohn 25g bolts. Be prepared to 'adjust' the hazer so it will make the trip reliably up and down the tower.
If you absolutely cannot climb a tower this device might prove useful. A better solution is to simply get a crankup tower and forget this thing.
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