Then we must be on the road to Indiana, where the primary duty is to take down KB9AX’s rusty old AX-series tower & TH-7, then build a new AN Wireless tower with multiple beams to replace everything. The apprehension I had having only viewed a single photograph beforehand was realized when we got there–Dan has a very small, & sloping (!) backyard. We began assembly of the beams: a used C-31, a new A3WA, a F-12 230/240 & a small M2 2M horizontally polarized Yagi. Then, when we finally got to the ANW assembly, the tower top was in his XYL’s flower bed, & cribbed up over two feet high! A slight “kink” or bend at the 50-ft joint could not be removed, despite Herculean efforts to do so. The crane arrived on Friday morning, & we had the old beams & tower down in exactly one hour. Then we ANW went up without a hitch. Dan had done a very good job installing the custom fabricated base stubs on his existing (oversized) base; everything fit like the proverbial glove. Antennas went up next, with very few problems. Then next day saw us creating & building cables (both Heliax & regular RG-series), which went up, along with the rotator. A MAJOR disappointment was to learn that ANW no longer makes horizontal bracing bars, which theyonce did, allowing climbers to stand comfortably at the rotator & the tower top.
Then it was over to W9YE’s, where I delivered the rotator cage I had fabricated for Gavin. He had forgotten the cage would require a new mast, & had acquired a hunk of rusty old water pipe, which I successfully talked him out of installing or using. While it would likely have worked okay for his simple F-12 crank up mast, there’s simply no reason to compromise an installation (especially considering he’s installing a new Mosley tribander, & lives in a beautiful home) by using something like that. If he cannot procure something suitable, I’ll FedEx him a hunk of 6061-T6 aluminum. We discussed using a manlift to install the new beam, as his mast is secured to a fascia board under a roof with a 60-degree pitch! Not suitable for clamoring around on holding a Yagi overhead.
Then we began the drive to MS. We arrived at 2PM, & by 2:30, were up & going building the 45G tower for Mike, K4EAR. Truly an atypical situation–Mike had everything prepped & ready, at the tower base, including his new XM-240, which was going up top. He even had sandwich materials on hand, so we could grab a bite of lunch once the tower was installed. While the skies turned dark & threatening, no lightning was spotted on radar (everyone but me was checking their phones), so we kept working. I set up the tram line (out 150 ft, in a close cropped lawn, what a treat) & the beam went up perfectly, with an outstanding VSWR. Off the tower, ready to grab another bite & head for a local motel by 10PM. Then home the next day, in 11 hours, whew….
stay tuned
