A few minutes with the Skilsaw, some OSB board, some 2X4s and some drywall screws, and we had a formed-up base. Then, we were  mixing up some SAKRETE–enough so that we have 23-inches of curing concrete surrounding the old tower. Back in a month to take the thing down…

70 degree weather today…a harbinger of spring days to come?

stay tuned…

But the forecast was changed (the storm is travelling slower than expected), so we are in the grips of something more akin to a truly pissed off house cat, rather than the king of beasts.  But I digress…such is the fate of folks who predict anything, whether it’s weather, the stock market, politics, or the whims of the public.

A trip down to Darlington, SC for a “commercially installed” tower takedown ran into one small problem. Yet another instance of a tower put up with a below-grade base & the legs being eroded over time.  It’s 200 feet of 25G & the three legs are basically gone; the Z-bracing is holding the tower up! We will be pouring concrete to secure the foundation, making the thing safe to climb & dismantle.

Long phone chats w/K1TO regarding a possible collaboration between us on an 80M beam repair down in AL. Dan doesn’t truly feel comfortable (yet) doing “big jobs” like this.  I am inspired by his confidence level that I should be so, having put up & taken down a few such monster Yagis! Every install is special, unique & different, but look forward to helping him out. We will try to schedule the work right after ARRL. I’ll be doing that this weekend from W3LPL’s up in MD.  A couple quickie jobs (site surveys) there right afterward (the weather there will probably prevent any climbing), then back home Immediately following that will be the Charlotte Hamfest. Once, again, will be trying to sell or dispose of the remaining Silent Key/estate items….

The week following, we’re trying to schedule another worktrip to Texas. This time, we’ll be re-doing the guying on the 10M stack tower—converting to all star guys, like all the other towers.

After that, the weather SHOULD be nice enough to regain some foooting here in the Carolinas, & catch up with the local clientele.

stay tuned

The focus of our trip (W2GD & I) was to determine how to make this a world-class contest station. Pekka, OH1RY/EA8AH, who found the site, bought it, lives next door, has recently sold it to RD3AF, who wants to improve EVERYTHING. We planned the trip w/the ARRL DX Test in mind, so we could do a M-2 operation. We managed 7000 QSOs for a tad over 7M points, as EF8M, which is probably good for 3rd in the world. You can’t beat the Caribbean locations for the ARRL…we knew that going on, they are simply too close to the US. This was my 1st ARRL contest outside the US, & it was a treat to work so many friends, clients, & guys who I know personally. But the contest was not our primary focus so I’ll talk more about the site & the work….

The falloff to the ocean is simply amazing.
1500 feet straight down to salt water.
The soil is very rocky, making any excavation difficult. The local gov’t does not want any “permanent” installations, making portable towers necessary. Of course, since we do not need really tall towers, this hopefully will not be too problematic. Only 160/80 antennas will be truly hard, as of course we’re looking for gain on these bands too. We used a 3L wire Yagi on 80M this time, & even w/the elements at only 40-50 feet, I think we were loud! The other major factor is the wind. The island was struck by 121 KPH gusts the day before we arrived. But I believe F-12 beams can survive (I’ve had good luck installing them in the Caribbean, for example).

This was truly an International weekend. Valery (RD3AF) does not speak English; the EA8 locals speak mostly Spanish; we speak only English. Valery brought Mila, an interpreter, to our “serious” meetings. EA8CAC, Juan, the youngest team member, speaks good English, & Pekka speaks enough Finnish, Spanish & English, so that w/lots of sketching, hand waving, & that universal ham radio language of Q-signals, we got through the weekend, learned a lot, & had an absolutely great time.

Next job? Preparing our workplan for the station upgrades, & then hopefully going back to build & install everything.

stay tuned

Arriving on Monday, we ran into intermittent rain, so put off the climb to 185 ft & the 80M Yagi fix ’til Tuesday, when the winds were blowing a mere 30MPH (gusts had to hitting 40MPH). It was COLD up there! But I found the problem at once (I had predicted it, in fact). A stress fracture of the small aluminum bracket from the switchbox to the element. We patched in a couple of #12 wire leads & climbed down, cold but happy.

The remainder of the week found us over on the new 15M multiplier tower, which we’d prepped last month. It was now time to get the two old legacy KLM 6L Yagis up & on the tower. But we first installed the 6M beam at the very top of the tower. We did not dynamically balance the KLMs, just hauled ‘em up on a tram line & wiggled them into place. Not pretty, but fairly easy & efficient. We are using TIC Rings to turn each—they’re literally toys compared to the K0XG orbital ring rotators used everywhere else at the station, but since this is a 25G tower, they represent the only logical solution. They are, in a word, a pain to put together. They are not precision made, parts don’t fit exactly, etc. Sloppy assembly (loose bolts until everything’s assembled is the order of the day, & then you tighten everything together). The drift pin punch is your friend! But I digress…for the money, they are a real bargain.

I spent considerable time wrestling with the Rosenberger-Leoni hardline connectors–a first experience for me.
George had puchesed several shortend runs of their 7/8-inch Heliax, but the center pin is a different size from our normal LDF5 cable, so none of our existing Andrew connectors fit. We overnighted some Leioni N-connectors to the ranch &, as I say, I spent a bit of time figuring them out. All the dimensions are metric (I admit, I’m not a fan) & they require quite precise cutting. I used a Dremel tool quite a bit to get into their tolerance range. We finished the week yesterday by installing the 7/8-inch Heliax phasing lines on the tower, along with a run to the very top for the 6M Yagi. Everything checked out perfectly.

W0UN surprised us with a brief stopover visit—having been to Houston for a Doctor’s visit & a Toyota tuneup at George’s dealership. It’s always a treat (& a learning experience) to chat w/John. George was playing in the RTTY contest, & planning to do the Sprint SSB contest later that evening. His reported score is the highest (so far). Kudos…!

Wednesday, ‘GD & I are going to EA8 for a site survey, then hanging on to do the ARRL DX Test from there. It should be, shall we say, great fun! Look for EF8M, pse!

stay tuned…

Drove home in terrible NC conditions. All the overpasses on I-85 carried warnings: STAY HOME, etc. No Southbound traffic. Charlotte is still essentially closed. Having grown up in the Midwest, all I can say is: What a hoot~!

Tower work up in MD cancelled, of course. That’ll all get rescheduled sometime next month.

stay tuned

Home again at midnight, from another work week in Texas. More NR5M rebuilding. The focus this trip was to have been refurbishing the old 15M multiplier tower & the 10M stack tower. But that’s not how things turned out….

Spent considerable time fixing, fussing, & diagnosing problems with the 2M EME array. Turns out to have been a failed phasing harness line. Broke two power dividers dianosing the problem. They are, in a word. very poorly constructed IMHO….

Then, we took down the old 10M beam atop the Hy-Gain crank up tower, and put up the new 432/1296 Yagis. Those are temporary installs–just to see the ops through the VHF contest. Then, we’ll restring that tower w/new stainless aircraft cable & STACK two pairs of 432/1296 Yagis up there on some sort of non-metallic mast!

It rained for the final four day so the week, so work was never fun.

The old TA-25s were modified & installed on that old 15M mult tower, however, so it’s now star-guyed, like every other tower on the ranch. 25G looks very impressive star-guyed….no longer a baby tower, hi hi…

Got home to Charlotte in, what else, pouring rain! I’m truly, truly tired of rain.

stay tuned

At home, getting ready for an apparently usual or ordinary “old folks” regimen tomorrow morning, a colonoscopy.
The process leading up to this examination is categorically unpleasant, let me assure you. It’s like a bad skit on Howard Stern, that’s about it.

We’re ready for the xyl’s son & wife & new grand-daughter to show up on Xmas day, with all the relatives from her side of the family showing up here the following day to see the newest family member. I’ll try to remain hidden.

No word from the cardiologist, so apparently I passed the stress test all right.

You reach a certain age, & it’s open season on medical procedures, bills, pills, doctor’s visits, health regimens, & assorted moments of foolishness in trying to cope with insurance, et cetera. Some small inkling of the future in Ohio, visiting my Mother, who was in the hospital with congestive heart failure, but is now home and fine once again. Ahhhh…getting old, but it beats the alternatives all to hell.  Managed to pick up the AM-6154 amplifiers while in Ohio. Managed a brief overnight in Athens to see old friends, while heading back home.

Tower Work? Hmmm, there’s work for locals K4MK, wA4GP, along with old pal AI0O out in MO, then some jobs pending in MD/VA. Three jobs in TN, three in FL, two new SC clients…all await action in the NEW YEAR.

Revised Tower Book MSS delivered to ARRL today. Hopefully that’s the last of the re-writing or additions. Now, to get going on picture needs for the book…

stay tuned…

Fortunately, I have the tower book MSS to work on. Been revising & adding to that all week. Opened the laptop case in Texas last week, to find a hole punched in the screen.
Not good. No idea how or where THAT took place (there’s only the smallest mark on the briefcase I carried it in), but the laptop looks like it was hit by a forklift or something. K4DXA picked it up last night at the CDXA Xmas dinner, & has promised to try & recover the data off the HD for me, which will be great, since I’ve stupidly misplaced two of the memory sticks I used to write the book–juggling them around as I wrote the book on the laptop & downloaded info, etc. from the desktop computer upstairs, & so forth. Then, I’d download the finished chapters on to yet another memory stick, thinking this would truly function as a foolproof system. It would have, had I not been foolish.
Much progress this weeek, despite that….

IF/when the WX breaks, tower work will resume, as there’s local client jobs, & that earnest & patient guy out in 0-land, wanting a 160M vertical.

stay tuned…

Anyway, the focus this trip (just me–W2GD did not come down) was to repair the top 10M Yagi on the four stack. Turns out, the rotation loop had somehow gotten snagged on the guy bracket, just enough for the jacket to tear off for about six inches. The ingress of water simply ruined the feedline. Luckily, that antenna is mounted on a PVRC mount, & while it was a tricky operation (it took some juggling & precise rotating to get everything aligned), but I was able to turn the elements vertical, then tilt the boom down & in to the tower, & by holding the boom somewhat steady with a sling, reach way out & get to the feedpoint. It was a stretch, & I admit that extending the positioning lanyard & lying nearly horizontal & attempting to work on 10-32 sized hardware is not my most favorite activity. Not only does the blood cease flowing to your head from the pressure exerted at your waist, but the ability to hold on to the tiny hardware goes way down as you reach ever further outward. Of course, the 30-degree temperatures didn’t contribute anything either. But all went off without a hitch (meaning I only dropped one machine screw), and the beam plays like it’s supposed to–once again, the station is ready for the 10M Test. George will be doing single op, phone only!

The remainder of the day & Sunday was spent (in misting rainfall) working on the M2 EME array. The eight big 41-ft boom Yagis are all up, the AZ-EL & prop pitch are working, so the focus was on getting the power dividers installed & phasing lines routed. The manual leaves a lot to be desired (there are no photographs, merely line drawings, & literally no text or narrative). Luckily, the manlift on site made getting up, down, in & out around the beams relatively easy. The rain made any attempts at WX-proofing connections next-to-impossible. I tried clearing everything w/the heatgun as I went, but soon reached a point where even it could not keep ahead of the wetness. After a short break, we were able to resume that work, while N5YA installed SuperFlex & hardlines connectors on the runs into the shack. Finished up w/everything run & cable-tied in place, then it was time to drive back to IAH & catch the Continental Express puddle-jumper home.

If the WX holds, local NC/SC jobs this coming week, then a leisurely drive to MO, for AI0O’s install….

stay tuned

A quick dash to Maryland. Spent the weekend trying to stay awake & working 160M at the W3LPL CQ WW M-M station. A near three way tie for first place–the first time that’s ever happened in the history of the test!
Us at 18.5M, K3LR & KC1XX just back at 18.3M…less than 1% difference & way too close to call. Simply amazing. Despite less than good conditions, we had fun & managed to snag 22 zones & 83 countries on Top Band. A disappointment, as we hoping for another 5BDXCC in one weekend, like we managed a few years back, but ’twas not to be….

Monday found me at N3EON’s, trying to figure out why his SWR is jumping around. Conclusion? It’s the damn meter. The BIRD is/was smooth ‘n steady, so we shall see. I’m sending him the high power slug just to confirm things. Otherwise, it means something is arcing on the KT-34 & that means a manlift to get up & at the beam, etc.

Tuesday’s planned rotator repair at W4RM was cancelled. The rotator “fixed” itself, oddly enough.

Wednesday’s work at N3KS cancelled due to, of all things, rain. We’ve had more rain this season than any time in recent memory. More cancellations of work/jobs than any other year, simply amazing. The NC draught is definitely over, although the water rationing is still in place. It’ll probably remain that way now forever.

Plans to get work done for locals K4MK et al are probably on hold, since the forecast is for, ahem, rain, rain, rain.

Off to Texas for emergency repair on Friday morning.

stay tuned…