I was at Lowes today to pick up some clamps to use to connect wires to 5/8 ground rods. The cartons containing these clamps say they are U.L. approved for direct burial. I believe strongly that code
I only mentioned the information on the box for the ground rod connectors at Lowe's for a data point. I in no way would ever personally trust that sort of a connection underground. I'm not too fond o
Jim, $8-$10 per connection certainly gives me motivation to seek alternatives. I have done some reading and consulting since previous posting. I have the equipment and the skill and now after some co
Ditto experience with Noalox superior to Penetrox in marine environment (SOCAL experience.) Note: Regarding cleaning/polishing aluminum, by the time you are through cleaning and polishing aluminum it
Grant, interesting link on copper corrosion. The use of salts, including table salt (sodium chloride) has been suggested as well as sulfates such as Epsom Salts to improve the conductivity between gr
Well put, Jim. Maybe the pagodas, if I recall what little I knew about old Japanese architecture, were made without metal even using wood pegs vice metal fasteners and so were not nearly the juicy ta
Hmmmm...A little comma mahes such a difference This: The one hot feed that wasn't broke at the base of the pole (underground) Should be:The one hot feed that wasn't, broke at the base of the pole <si
Dick would you mind sharing your coax installation details. I am interested in remote raise and lower for an automated crank-up tower with an eye toward NOT being out at the base of the tower lowerin
Once upon a time a long time ago in a city far far away(San Diego) I took about an 18 month sabbatical, got a commercial radiotelephone lisc, and worked as a marine electronic field engineer. I worke
How come all tower Mfg.'s start with letter T? That is the perplexing thing. Chris KF7P Alliteration, an advertising gimmick in this instance. _______________________________________________ ________
Hey Chris, I'm trying to get/stay slim. I've lost nearly 50 lbs and wear waist size 36 in place of the decades of 42. I weigh the same now as when I graduated high school. Now if I could just break m
How high is up?, how long is a roll of string? These are two easy questions compared to the knock down drag out fights we have had over conduit, holes for drainage or no holes... I have successfully
A good friend who has MS in mech engineering and 35+ years of hands on experience made the following suggestion to me: Do not splice the pole in the center where the greatest bending moment is. Add t
Don, My specific application was an "A" frame (two gin poles) and my friend's concern was letting either leg get "out of column", a malady most observed near the center of the poles. I welded my poll
But fouling up the permissions and access list is the most common way to screw things up. To err is human, but to really foul things up requires a computer! __________________________________________
I have a 270 ft Carolina Windom off center fed dipole. The short end is up 46 ft above the surrounding grade and the other end is up about 25 ft. It is fed via 50 ohm coax and a 4:1 balun. It perform
When fishing not every lure or bait works well for everyone every time but if you eliminate everything that isn't working 100% of the time for 100% of the users what do you use, what is left? Recomme
I have limited experience with towers (mostly for repeaters) and never had multiple HF towers before so I have a question before I boldly go where I have never gone before. Are there any other consid
Gee, I missed any lube-not lube debate but read the recommendations of the major tower manufacturers, all of which I saw were against lubing the cable. Overhead door companies around here all recomme
Somewhere in all this I think we are hearing that the lubrication under discussion dries to a non-grime collecting finish on the outside of the cable after penetrating all the way to the inner strand