So, the call came in from W9PA, over by Indianapolis, needing to replace his old Create rotator. No problem, right? Well, not so fast, climber boy! Turns out, Dave has a somewhat unique or one-of-a-kind tower, a design from the 70s made/sold by Riverview Welding of New Philadelphia, Ohio. It’s made from water pipe! Yes, Virginia, water pipe, & the design begins with a 4-foot-spaced base section (it’s a self-supporting design). The horizontal bracing is made from that same water pipe. The larger (bottom) sections include some X-brace materials. But it’s a real bitch to climb, made more so by the fact that while everything is “close” in terms of consistent spacing & so forth, every section is unique. So it’s difficult, at best, to climb. There’s no climbing with your legs, for instance. You’re pulling yourself up & on to each section, looking for hand & foot holds with each step. But the old man struggled through it.
The other significant issue was Dave’s rotator (being Japanese) has its own bolt pattern. His idea was for me to drill the plate in the air. But I fabricated a completely new accessory shelf. And while I hoped to use the simple bar W9RE had installed (to prevent the stack from wind-milling, ripping the coax apart, more on that in a moment…), that did not work out. So things were doubly difficult once I jacked the mast & stack up & out of the Create. But again, I struggled through it. Only downside was everything took about four times longer than anticipated, made more so by a heat index in the high 90s. Then of course I had to deal with the damaged coax, installing crimp connectors to allow me to install new jumpers down to the Heliax. Again, everything just took longer than anticipated.
A few house-keeping chores (moving the dipole & work rope attachment points) & it was finally time to bid adieu to that monster tower! Then back on the road to further West–to the Union City, Tennessee QTH of WB4YDL. Jamie’s Prosistel was not holding his big F-12 40/20 monster. But his earlier Orion with the K7NV clamp worked quite well, so I had fabricated an adapter plate allowing us to use Kurt’s clamp on the Prosistel. Worked perfectly. But then when I got back on the ground, the damn thing would only turn in one direction–indicating over travel in the other. Turns out, a simple wiring error was the culprit (Jamie has TWO black wires in his cable….don’t ask…). Once we got those swapped, everything performed flawlessly.
The long trip home was just that–a long trip home. Pouring rain (we need it) here in Charlotte now. Off to Ohio next to hopefully resolve some issues with my Mother’s estate, like getting her house on the market.
stay tuned…
