I've also posted portions of this to the six meter reflector.
I have my AV640 back-up antenna fixed and about ready to go back up. I
still need to either find a tree surgeon or rent a bucket truck with a
good reach to do some creative pruning that's well out of reach of my
big extension ladder. I have to really pull that AV640 out of shape to
*almost* clear some branches . I need to clean off some big branches so
I can raise and lower the 40' tower with AV640 attached. Then I still
need room for the tri-bander at 60 feet or something that will cover
say 30 through 10 (give or take and still safely clear the trees in
strong winds.) to eventually replace the little 40 footer plus AV640.
With that working, the pressure would be off fixing the 7L C3i at 115
feet and I could relax a bit. Then I could probably get it done right
away.
BTW if any one remembers my "Wasps in the matching network" and the
failure of the AV640 *again*, a couple weeks later, I figured at the
time I should have changed the coax connector on the base of the
matching network as it had been covered with "wasp goo". We *finally*
took the tower and antenna down this past Friday afternoon. (many months
later) I removed the matching network and took it into the shop where I
could work on it more easily. Sure enough when I removed the adapter
from UHF to N I found the flooding compound looking as if it were burned
black. Silicone does not blacken from burning, it leaves a white
residue which is essentially SiO2 or powdered quartz (IE sand). The
SO-239 had failed from all the bee goo I had hoped my thorough cleaning
had removed. It hadn't. I ground off the top of the rivets, removed
the connector, installed a new silver and Teflon Amphenol N-type chassis
connector. I used Aluminum pop-rivets, and then "set" them so they look
like regular rivets and that thing is solid. The next step was to seal
that connector and ground strap.
So the matching network is ready to put back on the antenna and the
antenna is ready to go up as soon as I remove those tree limbs. I'm
fighting off the impatience as I hear the talk of band openings on 6,
but I could easily trash the antenna trying to put it back up with that
tree in the way. At-any-rate, 40 has been good world wide even with the
seasonal QRN with AU, NZ, and Europe putting in strong signals most
nights to the half wave slopers. So, if I can find a friendly tree
surgeon who won't charge an arm and a leg ( and he's insured) or a good
bucket truck with a minimum 40 foot reach, maybe I can get ready Monday
or Tuesday.
I have a raising fixture (30' of 25G) using 1000# test, 5/16" poly rope
set up so the rope is tied to the top of the fixture runs to a pulley on
the tower, back to a pulley on the fixture and down to a pulley near the
ground. This lets the helper pull out away from the fixture and keeps
them from working under the load. BTW the 25G is back guyed to the NE
anchor for the 45G. Denny (WD8BPT) remarked he felt like he was only
pulling on about 45# to lower the 40' tower with the AV640 on top. It'd
really run smooth if it weren't for those tree branches in the way. The
AV640 is guyed and I have to pull it over to the side (bend it) to get
by the branches and I've been warping it about as far as I dare.
All this work just because I didn't replace a coax connector which "I
had on hand". There was a brand new silver plated Amphenol N-Type with
Teflon dielectric in the parts drawer which would have replaced that
faulty SO239 AND eliminated the need for an adapter.
This has been a busy past few days with the Midland swap and moving most
of my station from the den into the shop with the exception of one
2-meter rig which is going to get replaced with a duobander. The carpet
in the den finally gave out with me moving my office chair over such a
small area so often, so every thing has to come out of here to be able
to replace the carpet. OTOH it is handy as I can reach the computers
and ham rigs with only a little movement. I hate the though of having
to move all that heavy equipment back in here. Think maybe I can
convince my wife I should just get a new 7700 and HL2.5Kfx as it'd be so
much better for my back than moving all that heavy equipment? Then
again she'd probably expect me to go back to work, which I'd probably
need to do. I wouldn't even joke about her going back to work so I
could get a new radio. My survival instincts are too strong. <:-))
Besides I think she likes retirement even more than I do.
For those wondering about my climbing, my left leg must be doing better
as I made five climbs up the small tower Friday afternoon and probably
spent about an hour working up there. We also had to move the old
Hallicrafters (SX101A, HT32B, and HT-33B) station from the desk to
storage shelves and one side of the cutting bench. Oh yah! I also put
two layers of Aluminized Mylar on the double hung window at the West
end of the shop and then slid the big air conditioner into place. That
was *hot* work as it was well into the 90's in the shop while I was in
direct sunlight up near the ceiling. I think that Mylar lowered the
temp between 5 and 10 degrees up there as soon as I stuck it in place.
<:-)) Something to think about...Sunglasses for the windows. Now the
shop is running about 74 so I can get back to doing some resin work.
So, although the station out there looks good, nothing is hooked up and
running except the one big computer. Maybe tomorrow? <:-))
BTW did you know the caps in an Astron 50 amp supply can carry enough
charge to blow a transistor 3 hours after the supply has been
disconnected? And... another project is born.<sigh>
--
Roger (K8RI - ARRL Life Member)
www.rogerhalstead.com
N833R (World's oldest Debonair)
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