The old English major got a workout today. Over
at KK9A’s QTH, where we began with lifting the
final 40-feet of his Rohn 65G tower into place,
complete with the K7NV-refurbished prop pitch,
3-inch mast, and the star guy bracket and new
Phillystran. Almost 2000 lbs of stuff up and over
my head in one pick. Rigging was a tad lopsided,
so the spud wrench saved the day. Then up to 150 ft
to install the 20/40M Yagis. Only 95-degrees, so
it was not too bad (compared to last week in TX,
for example)~!
Submitted the Tower Book MSS this morning, sans
pictures/images, which I’m working on now.
Fingers crossed for successful publication (or
at least reception among the general ham
population).
stay tuned
Sunday morning…and a few minutes here at the keyboard to catch up again. Just in from another sizzling week of work in sunny South Texas, rebuilding the NR5M station. W2GD & I put up four (4) OWAs in one day! A new four stack of 13L 6M beams, which just may be the largest 6M array in the world, then later that afternoon, two 20M OWAs. The heat index hit 111 on Tuesday, so this was a good time to own stock in bottled water & Gatorade! But…all’s well that ends well & George seemed pleased with the efforts, & made a solid showing in the NAQP Saturday afternoon as we were finishing up. Check out the new “live” webcam available at the station, too.
Next up? Another 80M Yagi installation, & two new, larger 10M OWAs, to be stacked on the 1st 80M Yagi tower (9L jobs!), after we reconfigure the guys. Then there’s talk of having us install a 2M EME array…
stay tuned
And I’ve really not left the house, save for a mad dash to the Carolina DX Association luncheon today.
Sitting in front of the computer keyboard, editing & typing away on the Tower Book for the ARRL. Having not read the MSS. for a while, I continue to see changes & edits I want to make, instead of working on the photos & illustrations, as I should. But progress is progress, I suppose. And having never been a book author before, I find myself with a serious case of self-doubt & half-assed panic that I get everything “just so” before submitting the manuscript!
stay tuned
Well, the planned “File From The Road” idea never reached fruition, as Internet access while traveling left something to be desired!
Herewith, a recap of the week just passed:
Quick dash to W4NF’s for a rotator swap. Jack is using a taper top, a 2-inch taper top. With a 2-inch 4130 mast. After 10 years, he’s developed some rust, so much, in fact, that it’s stopped his Ham III from turning! The problem was compounded by his shack remodel, which kept him off the air (not turning things) for a year. A lightning surge prompted the changeout, and some heavy PB Blaster & a rubberized cap should help keep things turning for a while. Then it was off to WN3R’s, where I managed to finish building the beams & install the new, little 60 ft 25G tower & get them up. The old Prosistel came down from the big SSV tower, totally trashed–the gears are simply gone! Everything freewheeling up top & the cables ripped apart. A new prop pitch is to be installed later this month, a K7NV rebuild, which looks absolutely beautiful.
stay tuned
Recent Comments