Well, the weather finally cooperated–the river out in Peoria (which stayed above flood stage seemingly forever), & W2GD & I were able to get to K9CT’s to begin building the OWA Yagis, which we’ll install next month. You could barely tell the land was underwater just recently, as the sun was out & high in the sky every single day–the THI (the heat index, which equates to the “perceived” air temperature) was over 110-degrees! Damn hot, no matter what one is doing. But we persevered & got a considerable amount of work done during the trip: towers plumbed, beams assembled & balanced, & stacked at the bases of their appropriate towers. We’ll be going back in August to install them.
Then, on the return leg of the trip, I stopped at KC9QQ’s, & we put in the base for his Trylon Super Titan tower. Of course, by now, it was even hotter, but again, perseverance paid off & we were able to get it done. NOT without some tense moments, as the form for the pier (Fred decided he wanted to utilize the classic “pad & pier” style base to minimize the amount of exposed concrete in his yard) began bowing out on three sides when we were about 3/4 done with the pour. Some cutting, pounding, & general swearing & yelling got 2X4 supports in place & the pour proceeded without incident. It was my first pad & pier foundation & I remain convinced that the singular big chunk of concrete makes more sense for self-supporting towers.
Home at dawn this morning. Still dazed & confused. And tired. Too tired to even deal with the 100 spam messages up top…& now totally depressed to learn the two thieves were let out of Gaston County jail last week!
Local jobs tomorrow & early in the week then up to N VA once again…
stay tuned….
