The workaday world of antenna & tower projects. Posted by K4ZA, Tower Works, Charlotte NC.
Oh why not…?
Sitting here with the towel, drying off, after getting soaked over at N4IZ’s place, getting down off the tower & then loading all the tools to head home. Some more progress there.
Skies opened up this AM just as I turned on to KI4JPL’s street, so no work there today. The long range forecast for next week doesn’t look promising either. Of course, some workers have answered my CDXA appeal for help, so hoping the WX folks are wrong, just wrong…!
stay tuned
In My Humble Opinion…
If comments and/or posts received contain bad grammar or rather ridiculous spellings, I assume they’re simply spam, & delete them accordingly. Today’s “Are you going to write on this?” comment certainly considered as such. This is, after all, a blogging page!
If the weather holds, hope to make some more progress on N4IZ’s project, & get new db products vertical installed for KI4PJL…
stay tuned
It’s visit the medicos day.
Opthamologist in the AM–to ensure the eyes are doing okay. Then the Ortho Doc after lunch–to ensure the knee is progressing okay.
Made a bunch of notes while at Dayton & afterward to review several blogs. What’s most interesting is how many of them contain some language referring to their “lack of focus,” or otherwise rambling nature. A way to vent, let off steam, wax poetic (rare), or simply ponder the mysteries of the universe vis-a-vis ham radio. Maybe I’m missing the boat or aiming my arrows in the wrong direction? Does not this vague, unfocused nature get boring all too quickly?
Or maybe I’m doing the same thing & don’t realize it? A review is in order, apparently…
After lunch, I’ll be in the shop, repairing the lawn mower, which broke down yesterday afternoon. After finishing the yard, I’ll be in the shop building junction boxes for the orbital ring rotators, which will go down to the NR5M radio ranch. We need seven more, so I’m building 10 to get a bit ahead…
Then, if help’s available, will be trying to finish the installation of N4IZ’s new TH-11 tomorrow. Another small takedown here in Charlotte after that, then travel throughout NC after that….
Comments welcome on this blog & its subject matter of course!
stay tuned
Home at last…
It means a lot, just being home. Familiar surroundings, sights & smells, & the mattress one is used to feeling, ahhhh….
Dayton was wet, but worth every minute, & a wonderful experience, & having gone since 1965, (I think) also a comfortable & enjoyable experience.
Highlights? My presentation at the Antenna Forum was very well-received. In fact, I’d say it was my most successful talk ever! Simply lots of favorable comments, including well over a dozen referring to the NCJ column. Writers enjoy such feedback, & I’m inspired to keep writing….K3NA’s paper also worth further review & study. The rain made traveling the flea market less fun, but there was a large selection of boat anchor gear out there, along with lots of empty spaces. Lots! Inside, the new crank up tower from Japan caused quite a stir–it was literally a show-stopper! You can read more about it online at:
http://www.luso.us/tower%2090US.html
Apparently, the tower did sell at Hamvention, but I don’t know who purchased it. It is one hell of a crank up tower, but a crank up, after all….
The 160M dinner was a treat. The K5D slideshow from W2GD managed to present 260 slides in 30 minutes of rapid fire fun. The show from the VK9GMW guys was almost the inverse–two guys, in an under-sized boat, waiting out a cyclone, using up all their provisions, but then still continuing on the DXpedition, catching fish to survive for a week, all the while running up the QSOs. K5D, on the other hand, was a well-organized ham radio invasion of Desecheo! As I say, a treat. The hospitality suites were the usual hotspots of activity–where you could meet some of radiosport’s best & brightest. Always great fun.
On I-70, eastbound, K3LR blew by me w/a grin & a wave, Sunday morning after the hamfest. I was on my way to visit my Mom, in Killbuck, Ohio. And then a brief visit w/ K8MFO after that. Don is a wealth of trivia, & I always enjoy chatting with him. He arranged lunch at a local Amish restaurant, what a bargain!
Finally home, & catching up on the blog, tons of correspondence, & even local tower work. Plus attending to the tower book MSS as much as possible. LOTS of very positive response to the book in Dayton, too!
Tomorrow marks a return of sorts–back to Ohio, where I’m originally from, back to Dayton, where all good hams go (at least once, if not yearly), to the annual Dayton Hamvention, America’s largest ham radio gathering.
Dayton is many things, to many hams, too many to try listing or cataloging. The contest crowd (I consider myself a member) goes mostly for the hospitality suites, held each evening, at the downtown Crowne Plaza Hotel. These are great fun; they’re a source for inspiration, knowledge, and a way of finally meeting the person behind the mic or key, whom you’ve QSOed maybe hundreds of times.
Fabulous fun. Et cetera….
I think I first went in 1964, which I believe was the first year at HARA Arena, replacing the Biltmore Hotel, where it had been held previously. Been going ever since, except for years spent in grad school & the like. The event simply grew exponentially from there! Although the crowds have thinned a bit in recent years, it’s still an amazing experience. Like I say, something all hams should experience, at least once.
Sent off my presentation for the Antenna Forum this AM. If you’re a reader here, & not attending, it’ll be up on the K3LR website Saturday afternoon, as are previous Forum presentations.
While in Ohio, hope to stop in & visit my Mom, old friends in Athens, & other 8-land pals. Once back in Charlotte, there are LOTS of jobs awaiting my attention.
stay tuned
Well, nearly five hours in the air yesterday, making repairs to the N4IZ tower, proved I’m not yet 100%, but getting there.
Of course, yesterday was only the two week anniversary of the surgery, so I was probably a bit premature.
The knee’s just now feeling better–it was remarkably “stiff” yesterday after I climbed down, which is a new condition. But overall, I’m convinced it was the right thing to do, as the pain I experience (every now & then) is truly related to the scraping away of a small amount of arthritis between the knee joint, not the torn meniscus. I imagine, with time, everything will, indeed, be back to normal.
Spending the day putting the finishing touches on my Dayton Forum presentation, mowing, maybe going to a movie with the XYL, et cetera.
stay tuned
It was a catchup week here in Charlotte, workwise–doing lots of things I wasn’t able to do right after the knee operation. Tuesday (during what can only be called torrential downpours), I drove down to GA to retrieve some tower I’d purchased earlier from W4DII. Nice to finally meet Dennis, also a tower guy, but one who’s getting out of the business at the end of this year, he told me. This tower will go to WN3R’s new installation.
Today will be the first climbing job since the surgery–on N4IZ’s 60-footer here in town.
Taking down old TH-6 & replacing it with a shiny, new TH-11. Loking forward to getting back to work with no problems, et cetera. W2GD reports progress from the NR5M jobsite, where the WX has been, well…hot!
stay tuned
Title has a nice ring to it, eh? Nurse cut out the stitches in about three seconds, then I saw the ortho doc. Besides handing me a couple of sheets of glossy pictures (“You can hang these on your refrigerator.”), he went over the operation, & basically gave me a very positive report. He suggested I wait another week before doing any tower climbing, to which I agreed. Going upstairs to the bedroom at night is still sometimes a tad troublesome, so I know climbing would be awkward. It’s not really painful or a problem, just that the movement or action of making that sort of step is, well…noticeable. Other than that, we discussed the nature of the reactions I’ve received from various folks vis-a-vis this surgery, & I’ve come away with two conclusions:
1) We have good medical folks in the Charlotte area (or I’ve been fortunate to FIND good medical folks here);
2) This is the most-performed surgical procedure in America at the moment, so not everyone is going to agree on it. Ever.
I’m satisfied mine went okay, & that I’m on the way to a complete, 100%, good-as-new, farmboy strong recovery. End of story.
I look forward to getting back to work.
stay tuned
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