...and here I thought "life changing decision" meant you moved a hot chick in.
Made a life changine decision..........
- Thread starter 67Dart273
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greymouser7
Vagrant Vagabond “Veni Vidi Vici”
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Do you know what they did with GWEN?
They had some ?copper? Mines in the Great Lakes states (don't remember which one) & one of the Dakotas-they sent out this giant 3 character signal to those of us in my line of work in preparation for the final countdown. (Don't type what I do on this thread)from those two points, through the ground into both major oceans that concern us-for my line of work.
It was discontinued on my first shore duty-it hurt whales, messed with some birds & vibrated a hum that people in the rocky/plateau dessert of the south west kept complaining about-such an amazing, small world.
That signal & setup was no joke-used in the SDI for 20 years. There are not enough words to express WOW.
you are 10 times braver than I am for going up there . I'm happy all went well .
67Dart273
Well-Known Member
Got a little more energy tonight, ran the TV corner antenna up, the rest of the feedlines, and got the security camera mounted. The security cam used to be on the rotator mast way up above the 6M yagi, and so could be rotated. But it was useless, so far "up" that the detail was lacking.
I only need one more last trip, assuming everything works. Still need to mod the sidearm for the dipole, so it will bolt to the tower. It was previously bolted to the hazer. The arm will be below the TV antenna
I only need one more last trip, assuming everything works. Still need to mod the sidearm for the dipole, so it will bolt to the tower. It was previously bolted to the hazer. The arm will be below the TV antenna
fishy68
Tyr Fryr's Inc.
Del sure sorry to see you disheartened with amateur radio but I completely understand the point with your health and know how hard climbing those towers are. I'm getting ready to put up a new Rohn 45 and hope it's the last time I have to take on a project like it because my back gives me grief when I climb. I can only imagine in just a few yrs. I won't be able to climb anymore. After seeing your home made "hazer" I think I'll build one. Sure looks like it makes life easier. What did you use for the winch?
Daves69
Well-Known Member
I found a picture of dad's old tower. A crank up with a 90° tilt when down. Took a lot of climb height out of it but he still needed to climb a ladder to work on it.
His next door neighbors were a little worried about "which way it was going to fall"
His next door neighbors were a little worried about "which way it was going to fall"
67Dart273
Well-Known Member
Well this morning I got done with tower work, barring any elecrical / mechanical problems. Ran the last heliax up the tower (dead ended for spare), mounted the dipole crossarm. The winch is an old cast iron winch I bought at a garage sale for 20-25 bucks. I don't remember, I think I had to buy the wire, but not sure. Some of the previous photos shows the snatch block at the top. I replaced the original pins with bolts and lock nuts
Nice work there, think of the reduction in wind loading you just gave your tower. Really enjoyed this post, as a guy who climbs these every now and then, and an old radio/IFF tech : )
67Dart273
Well-Known Member
IFF? Military or FAA?
I had "basic" IFF training in ET-A school. But was never around it. I forget the term, the main RADAR at Miramar was FAA it was "regional?" for both military and civilian in the area. We never touched it.
On a side note, one perk to my billet at Miramar, is that back then PSA had a contract with Miramar if "downtown" was too foggy. So we were called out of bed, etc, had to go out quick and check out the RADAR before the transport came in. "It was OK" LOL for the Navy jocks to fly the RADAR all night but we had to check it!!! for the civilian plane!!! Then we'd go up to the tower snack bar and flirt with the college girls and stewardesses.
Also, back then, they were flying stuff like 727s. The next morning after one of these landings, the crew, with no passengers, would ferry the plane back to LA or wherever. I had NO idea those things could climb out like that!!! Damn things looked like an F4!!! I'm sure the pilots "used that opportunity" to have a bit of fun, too!!
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Navy but I worked with the ET's once on the Nimitz when they were having trouble with their APX-72 (IFF). Also I've been to Miramar, but only for a safety school. Sounds like fun in the tower, I used to work at the Mahlon Sweet airport in Eugene OR as a dishwasher. Back then the restaurant made the meals for the plane and we'd load them up from a truck, got to talk to a few stewardesses, lotsa fun for a 16 year old!
67Dart273
Well-Known Member
Well today I got further along on the "tower reduction" program, I've been doing some thinking, and decided to make a minor change.
First, I needed to put an arm/ bracket some ways up the tower with pulleys / blocks so I can lower the wire antenna when needed. That antenna is so long, it leaves near the top of the tower, goes out front and doubles back, and goes out to the garage and doubles back. The arm and pulley blocks near the top of the tower went up last time. It is unchanged, and supports the center of the wire antenna
This is the bracket I added today, down below the arm for the wire antenna. This is a homebrew bracket originally for a sat antenna. One pulley block/ rope takes up the folded end of the antenna coming "back" from the garage, the other is the end out in front
This is the simple mast on the far end of the garage, an insulator with the wire antenna coming from and back to the tower. Top wire comes from the single arm up high on the tower, the lower wire feeds back to the bracket I added today
This is the mast out front on the carport. This mast used to hold the big beams on the hazer unit, now just holds up the front yard end of the dipole, also coming from, and going back to the tower I put it up last week. Same deal, the lower part of the wire goes back to the bracket I added today
Also, I have an old Mosley tri-band three element beam. Mosley ALSO sells a rotatable dipole, which essentially, is the driven (single) element. This has "traps" (two in one can) so the antenna works on three amateur bands, 20 meters (14 mhz), 15 meters (21 mhz), and 10 meters (28-29 mhz)
I decided to put this on top of the tower, with no rotator, mounted permanently east-west. Just having only the one element, it's bi-directional. So if it breaks or quits, I may not even fix it, just leave it in place
Below is a depiction of the Mosley rotatable dipole which will go up next week I hope
This is the mast I added today with a set of commercial clamps I had. I needed to get the monopole (vhf/uhf) up above the tower, and provide some room for the dipole away from the tower guys and hardware
Below, and overall look. The vhf/ uhf monopole at very top on the added mast section. The rotatable dipole will clamp to this mast just above the tower.
Below that the TV antenna, and below that the arm for the center of the wire antenna
Finally, below that, the added bracket / pullies for the "fold back" on the wire antenna. This, simply, allows me to lower the wire antenna if needed without climbing anything.
Also, that bracket could mount one more say, vhf antenna, or sat dish if need be.
First, I needed to put an arm/ bracket some ways up the tower with pulleys / blocks so I can lower the wire antenna when needed. That antenna is so long, it leaves near the top of the tower, goes out front and doubles back, and goes out to the garage and doubles back. The arm and pulley blocks near the top of the tower went up last time. It is unchanged, and supports the center of the wire antenna
This is the bracket I added today, down below the arm for the wire antenna. This is a homebrew bracket originally for a sat antenna. One pulley block/ rope takes up the folded end of the antenna coming "back" from the garage, the other is the end out in front
This is the simple mast on the far end of the garage, an insulator with the wire antenna coming from and back to the tower. Top wire comes from the single arm up high on the tower, the lower wire feeds back to the bracket I added today
This is the mast out front on the carport. This mast used to hold the big beams on the hazer unit, now just holds up the front yard end of the dipole, also coming from, and going back to the tower I put it up last week. Same deal, the lower part of the wire goes back to the bracket I added today
Also, I have an old Mosley tri-band three element beam. Mosley ALSO sells a rotatable dipole, which essentially, is the driven (single) element. This has "traps" (two in one can) so the antenna works on three amateur bands, 20 meters (14 mhz), 15 meters (21 mhz), and 10 meters (28-29 mhz)
I decided to put this on top of the tower, with no rotator, mounted permanently east-west. Just having only the one element, it's bi-directional. So if it breaks or quits, I may not even fix it, just leave it in place
Below is a depiction of the Mosley rotatable dipole which will go up next week I hope
This is the mast I added today with a set of commercial clamps I had. I needed to get the monopole (vhf/uhf) up above the tower, and provide some room for the dipole away from the tower guys and hardware
Below, and overall look. The vhf/ uhf monopole at very top on the added mast section. The rotatable dipole will clamp to this mast just above the tower.
Below that the TV antenna, and below that the arm for the center of the wire antenna
Finally, below that, the added bracket / pullies for the "fold back" on the wire antenna. This, simply, allows me to lower the wire antenna if needed without climbing anything.
Also, that bracket could mount one more say, vhf antenna, or sat dish if need be.
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Mr Gorsky
I know words, I have the best words...
IFF, TACAN, COMSEC, RADAR, ESM/ECM, DOPPLER....ah, the good 'ol days 
67Dart273
Well-Known Member
Just got done with what I hope is the last trip up the tower........at least for awhile. Got the single beam element mounted and tested. The "bands" are pretty dead, only a few signals on 20 meters. But results are encouraging. In other words it's likely this was worth the effort.
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