…to borrow from the old Howdy Doody Show…
It’s time to try & resurrect the idea of ham radio tower work posts! The weather has been the deciding factor of late–this winter & spring have simply been awful in terms of being horrible, so much so that work or jobs were cancelled or otherwise delayed, etc. But Joe, KI4TZ, headed back up to Charlotte this weekend & we’ve tried to get back to doing some takedowns & installations/repairs, etc. Herewith, a summary:
The first venture was a trip down to the far Eastern edge of the state, to take down Silent Key W4ZAN’s little 25G tower, overseen by old friend K4ESE. The weather was perfect, with temperature hovering around 57 degrees, & very little wind. The tower came apart quite easily & we were done in less than three hours. Neill, K4ESE, was a gracious host, letting us stay at his Lake Waccamaw house. I dropped over N4ZC’s AL-1200 amplifier, which Neill agreed to look at & try to discover why we have no high voltage.
Next stop was a quick visit to N4IZ. where we had to replace the Hy-Gain boom-to-mast clamp hardware–the original SS bolts had broken, causing the TH-11 to freewheel, which snapped the turnbuckles on the truss & wrapped the feedline around the mast, luckily not so much as to damage it. A simple task made so much easier by having a second pair of hands aloft.
Some showers shortly after leaving N4IZ’s seemed to indicate that would be the end of the workday, but after a quick bite to eat, the sun came out, although the temperature didn’t follow along. It was a brisk 38 degrees at N4YZ’s when we arrived. Tommy had borrowed a TDR from the Highway Patrol shop & determined the balun was bad on the Pro 57. So, that was a simple fix–climb up & replace it (the feedpoint on these big Mosleys is right at the boom-to-mast place).
Today, we’re just about to head to Rock Hill SC, where apparently the factory balun on K2XN’s Mid-Tri Yagi (JK Antennas) has failed. Exactly how we’re going to resolve this one is still in question. It’s a BIG beam (165 lbs) & will require some serious rigging to hoist, twist & turn to lower the feedlpoint enough to reach it.
After that, another 25G takedown, next week.
stay tuned…
