Warren et al: I bought s few sample piees of stainless sheet from Online Metals http://www.onlinemetals.com/merchant.cfm?id=284&step=2 . I used one of the sheets to shim out the space between my mast
Ray: The switch wil probably handle the current, but it may arc over and become damaged in the open position with 125 VAC applied, especially if you are opening an inductive load. You can't be sure w
Steve: I painted my Chrome-molly mast with Rustoleum inside and out before I installed it in the tower. I used a painting mit for the outside and a rag on a rope for the inside. 73 de Gene Smar AD3F
SNIP Freestanding towers, like SNIP SNIP TT: The taller Trylon Titan towers (sorry for the alliteration) are constructed of two gauges of steel. The upper, smaller sections are thinner gauge while th
Kelley: Check out Trylon Titan series of towers. They are an affordable, medium-duty design that come in many different ratings. Champion Radio sells them. http://www.championradio.com/ . In 2001 I b
Richard: To help ground your coax cable runs onto the tower at the top and bottom, as Jim suggests, you can fab up some homebrew cable ground clamps. I wrote up a description at http://lists.contesti
Rich: I suggest checking the ground block you identified throught the link, below. As I mentioned in our private e-mail, it's difficult to seal these things at the connector/plate interface, especial
TT: That fiber-optic hose, invariably colored orange, is called "innerduct." Google it to find sources. 73 de Gene Smar AD3F _______________________________________________ __________________________
TT: Some state highway patrols have changed what they used to call traffic "accidents" to "collisions" or similar wording on their reporting forms. "Accident" appears to be a word that implies dimini
Larry: I have the Polyphaser equivalents in-line with my coaxes on the tower. I have them all mounted inside a large steel Hoffman enclosure at the base of the tower. The connectors emerge through th
Jim: Professionals install the cables on the outside of towers because it's easier to do so when you're on the clock. In that case there is no particular advantage to trying to mount 2-inch nominal c
Ralph: I don't have direct experience with THAT particular 4-dipole antenna array but with others like it. One caution, or at least something you should be aware of: the specs say that it has a very
Jeff: If you decide to protect the cables, PVC conduit is cheap enough at home improvement centers. I suggest you buy sufficient quantities of whatever diameter you need to protect the cables and lay
TT: Another pair of references that may be of value regarding electrical installations, especially installations with lots of switching power supply loads, is the IEEE Green Book (IEEE Std 142) and E
Hans: I agree with John G4ZTR: Don't just hang a messenger wire (what your steel wire is called) onto your tower and load it with coax and control cables without considering the sideways force this w
Charlie: On my Trylon tower legs I use tinned bronze connectors from Harger. I think they are the P/N 222T. If you can't find them at a local distributor (Harger won't sell onzies-twozies directly an
Jerry: Try: Special Metals, Inc. 6406 South Eastern Oklahoma City, OK 73149 Sales: Joe Varva 800-727-7177. I bought my 22 feet of Chrome-molly tubing from them in 2001. At that time it was a pleasure
Jonathan: Consider this failure a learning experience and try another OneShot. Don't risk injuring yourself by fooling around trying to ignite a highly exothermic reaction manually. Caveat Amateur. 7
Charles: Sorry to learn of your Trylon problems. Of course, you know it was overloaded. Based on your estimate that the top was 12 inches across you probably have a Titan T-300-80 http://www.trylon.c
Steve: A few Conduit Rules of Thumb (based on my own experience; YMMV): o Don't install elbows - use sweeps for turns. Sweeps are larger-radius bends than elbows and permit easier pulling through the