Hi towertalkians! Here's an update on the tower project thus far for those
interested.
The SSV tower is now all cold galvanized with ZRC, and really looks sharp.
Two weeks ago I reassembled the 4N knockdown section, and last weekend I
mated it to the 3N section.
I finally received the stamped engineering specs from Rohn, and have the
permit application in as of Monday, the local building inspector said I may
have the permit in hand this Friday! Yahoo! BTW Rohn only charged $150.00
for the wet stamped plans.
I have spent every night for the last week working to get ready for this
weekend, pulling nails in the fence, ruining our nice landscaping pulling
up the slate walkway, and many tree limbs cut down for the crane
access-found a neat saw that is basically a chain saw chain with loops at
each end, you throw the attached rope over the branch and get a real good
work-out cutting the limbs! It's a little slow, but it cuts both ways and
is cheaper than hiring a tree service! Hard to find in the stores, but
defintiely worth the time to look.
Last nite I marked out the pad location in the yard, it's going to be a
9x9x5' base. Larger than what Rohn specs, but will have a little more
weight and size so it should have a little better safety factor.
Have a tracked mini excavator I rented coming on Friday afternoon so I can
dig the hole, cost was reasonable-abt $350/day-cheaper than hiring a
contractor to do it, and more control over the actual hole size :)
The #7 rebar (7/8") will be arriving on Monday by truck, so next week it
will be cage tying time. Anyone want to help lug 44 pieces of this stuff 9'
long? Still waiting for the SB4 short base to show up, hopefully soon, as
the base can't be poured without it.
The antennas are all assembled on the ground, and I have decided to only
pre-assemble the A3WS onto the mast-will have the crane lift it up, then
will sling the th-7 and have the crane lift that separately up to the mast.
Still have to swr check the antennas on the ground before installation, but
hopefully I can find someone to hold them up vertically while I check them
out.
Tomorrow nite I will be pulling down the leader cable and hardline to the
coax switch, so I will be off the air for a long while. At least I got the
VK9W so all is not lost. :)
If all goes according to plan, then the concrete should be poured by the
end of next week, and after it cures, I should be able to have the whole
thing done by the middle of October-just in time for contest season. Maybe
sooner:)
I've taken some pictures so far, and hope to have them scanned soon for all
to see, unfortunately I haven't found a digital camera as I had hoped,
which would have made things real easy.
73 all, hope I haven't bored you all, looking forward to getting this
project done!
Scott
KA1CLX
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