Well, it is sometimes necessary to “wrap up” or summarize what’s been going on, work-wise, here on the blog. March, nationwise, found the Weather dominating much of the news, with blizzards, hail and sleet, high winds, freezing temperatures, and the like. In other words, going out like ye olde proverbial lion, albeit in not EVERY part of the nation. But here in the sunny South, we had our share, we had our share, that’s for sure. Indeed, I have clients (K4MK, AA4VV, near neighbors in fact) who suffered either fallen trees or serious ice damage, and so forth.
In AA4VV’s case, his relatively new C-19 loaded up with radial ice, and then the winds came, and then the boom snapped in two. Dangling up there it looked bad, but we were able to tram down the broken halves. Then I set up a pair of sawhorses and carefully dismantled the center section of the boom–removing elements and the Force-12 element mounting tabs. With new aluminum in hand, I replaced the boom section, but this time triple-walling that section. Then I fabricated a larger plate on to the F-12 boom-to-mast plate, allowing me to add a truss support post (almost four feet high), and then add some Phillystran truss cables. Here’s a picture of the rebuilt beam.
We trammed it up and on to the tower yesterday.
Today was, alas, a sad day, as I had to have our tabby cat, Trixie, put to sleep. She suffered kidney failure, from which there’s simply no cure. Growing up on an Ohio farm, I was familiar with having to put large animals (with broken legs or other debilitating injuries down), but never a small house pet. And certainly nothing that has been a part of our daily lives for nearly 15 years! And certainly nothing which returned love and affection like this kitty did–which those farm animals never showed. A most sad day, indeed….
stay tuned…
