I temporarily guyed mine every section as I went up. It wasn't necessary from a structural standpoint since you can safely go at least three sections above a guy point, but it held the tower sections
I've been noticing a strange phenomena that I'm hoping someone can help explain. I'll be sitting in front of the rig tuning the band and listening when all of a sudden the background noise level star
Speaking of copperweld, does anyone know a good source of #14, #16 and #18 copperweld with at least 30% copper cladding? I have plenty of larger gauge for antennas, but I need some smaller gauge for
I think about 26 ft. (3 sections with 4 ft. buried in concrete) is about all that is recommended for a freestanding 25G tower, with negligible wind load such as a small TV antenna. With even that the
Is there a limit to the shelf life of unused Big Grips? I wonder if the coating stays useable if the grips are stored in the box on the shelf for years before they are first used. Don k4kyv ________
It is unlikely that the manufacturing plant that draws bare wire from bulk copper ingots is the same one that covers the wire with plastic insulation. In 1974 I purchased the 16,000 ft of #12 bare c
That's exactly what they are now doing with plywood. Last time I went to Lowe's to purchase some 3/8" and 1/2" sheets, the so-called 3/8" was actually 11/32" and marked "approximately 3/8". The "app
Which, unfortunately, is going to result in a lot of house fires. I wuldn't allow that stuff through the door of my house. Don k4kyv _________________________________________________________________
But if you could find a fairly large stash of old, unused aluminium house wire, with the insulation intact, it would make good ground radials. The plastic insulation would protect it from reaction w
One of the problems is that aluminium remains in a semi-molten state, even at cold temperatures. With steady mechanical pressure applied, it "flows" away from the pressure points, so it is impossibl
I wouldn't recommend stranded wire for radials, unless it is covered with plastic insulation. Stranded wire will deteriorate in the soil at a much faster rate than will solid wire. I once installed
If the tower predates airport runway expansion, wouldn't the aiport have to convince local government authorities to condemn the tower by eminent domain, and pay the tower owners the full cost of rel
From: "Dan Zimmerman N3OX" <n3ox@n3ox.net> To: towertalk@contesting.com Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Locking a Turnbuckle...?? Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2006 22:52:06 -0500 Put a locknut on the locknut, and so o
There IS a discussion in the literature about this. Given that the bird strikes occur at night, local scavengers might haul away some fraction of the carcasses. Then the dead bird just becomes part o
When I put up my tower, I used a plain old hacksaw. I purchased a fine-tooth blade and a roll of the plastic tape used to seal parcels for shipping. At the point where I wanted to cut, I marked the c
Does anyone know where one can obtain the old fashioned HS steel guy wire? When I worked at a broadcast station back in the 60's, I recall that you had a choice of guy cable: HS = Hardened Steel, AKA
I once tried to use CoaxSeal to repair a break in a buried coax line. I wrapped the repair with coax seal, then coated the whole thing liberally with roofing cement, and then wrapped old fashioned cl
It is a good idea to use the steel cable at the ground end up to a height of 20' or so from the ground. Phillystran is very easy to vandalise. I used a short piece the other day as a temporary substi
It looks like the tower may have been mounted upside down. The tapered end of the section where the rotor is mounted, is cappped with heavy steel plate, which would normally be used at the base, for
I use my tower as a quarter-wave vertical on 160. It is on a base insulator salvaged from a damaged AM broadcast tower, and I use 120 quarter-wave radials, each about 133' of #12 bare copper wire. I