Heading to the great North once again…MD/VA, for various tower and antenna jobs…
Hope to file reports while on the road.
stay tuned
Monthly Archive for July, 2009
And what a hump day it was! Crane arrived & got set up, but we had no room to put the jib extension on. The reach w/o it was 108 feet, but at the setback from the tower, that wasn’t enough. We were about 6 ft below the beam…so…the crane op suggested we pick everything at once–beam included! I rigged it, climbed down, & then the mad scramble began to get the guys all undone, & the base bolts removed. I’d originally intended to take the beam down & then pick the entire 100 ft of 45G at once, but this was a new experience. And I have to give the crane op credit, it went off w/o a hitch. I did break one element on the beam, but only because it got caught in some NC briars ‘n brambles. Otherwise, not a problem. Took a bit longer, too, as we had to dismantle the beam 10 ft up in the air from a stepladder, but certainly better than manhandling things the old fashioned way. Back to SC agn today to pick up the stuff I couldn’t fit on the trailer last night, hi…~!
stay tuned
Down in SC, taking down 100 feet of 45G. Using a crane, so dis-assembly will be on the ground. Then picking up another few sections from N4BY, all eventually going to TN, for WB4YDL.
Just another work day…
stay tuned
N4IZ’s installation wrapped yesterday.
Spent today working on the tower book.
Takedowns scheduled for this week. Posted several Yagis on the QTH.com website. Lots of calls but callers seem to think long boom Yagis can be shipped by wrapping them up or some such. Motor freight rates? Big boxes?? You’d like to be paid to dis-assemble these big antennas???
Oh….
stay tuned
The Telwave clone of a StationMaster was finally installed at KI4JPL’s this week. Stil nervous about that much moment hanging above the TH-11 mount on the Hazer. We shall see…
The old commercial tower used by KN4CC finally came down. We used a manlift & all went perfectly, except we somehow managed to sever one phase of the 220VAC line feeding the house! With the lift’s diesel & a Bobcat running fulltime in the next door neighbor’s yard, I guess I missed the excitement. Luckily I missed the voltage on the lift, too! If possible, I think this tower (four 20 ft sections) would make an excellent 15M support tower out in Stanley–my station location. We’ll see…
Today I finalized N4IZ’s installation, his rebuilt T2X came back. A few minutes of frenzied confusion, as Don had forgotten to re-install the control line to the Ameritron switchbox. So…I’ll have to go back tomorrow & re-install the weather-proofing I cut off today (I ran out of 130C). TH-11 & log periodic for VHF look good up there….
stay tuned
Monday’s WX ruined climbing, so spent time on the tower book. Tuesday & today were spent taking down KN4CC’s old commercial tower–a 60 ft job comprised of 20 ft sections. The manlift made it possible. Spent today taking apart the Sommer XP-508 log periodic style beam. And hauling the sections away. At nearly 200 lbs each, I was apprehensive, but after unloading 1288 lbs of well pipe (KI4TZ’s soon-to-be elevated guy posts), I was primed for some puny tower sections! New db products StationMaster for KI4JPL’s new mast tomorrow, then a survey in SC.
stay tuned
Monday afternoon, I spotted the name of an old college pal on a bulletin board mailing list–someone to whom I had not spoken or contacted in 37 years! Yet, the spelling/name were distinctive, & I was sure it was the right guy. An exchange of emails proved this to be so, and we ended up chatting on the phone Tuesday afternoon for an hour. While he’s no longer licensed, there’s a strong connection through ham radio (we were both members of the same ham club in college), & he assured me he wants to return to it one day. I was reminded how special the hobby is throughout our conversation, because of the “small world” nature of the connection, the continual references to mutual friends by their callsigns, & the ability to pick up on various memory points seemingly at random, all made for a great QSO….
Thanks Marc!
It’s raining in Charlotte, but not enough to deter some scheduled simple tower jobs, at least that’s my hope anyhow.
stay tuned
Spent the day in front of the laptop, working on the Tower Book MSS. It’s coming together nicely, I think.
Made a list of needed illustrations, et cetera.
There are more missing or required than I thought–even initially!
So, need to get to work on that ASAP. The ARRL has still not finished their massive Handbook re-edit, so they pushed my MSS delivery back into August; I can use the time.
Local projects await…
stay tuned
Thursday AM.
Got home @midnight. Usual late night dash from N VA to Charlotte, after a long two weeks on the road.
Highlights? Successful repair to N4TX’s MonstIR. While at height repairing the 16-conductor control cable is always fun. The changeout of his Prosistel went off w/o a hitch, which did have me worried…due to the high winds.
Field Day w/the PVRC was terrific. The organization to get a 20A entry up & going always amazes me. 20M SSB was sorta punk–no short skip whatsoever. But nearly 1800 Qs so am not complaining.
New Heliax phasing lines, new Polygon rod guy lines, all built & installed at W3LPL’s after FD. More guy wires to replace on next trip.
Site survey for W4CYS.
Wow…he DOES have room…165 acres of open field. Planning a rotating 55G.
stay tuned
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