Art: That cost seems a bit pricey to me. Around my QTH (DC area), delivered concrete goes for around $100 a yard. With your pricing that means the digging will cost you about $900 - for about an hour
Dan et al: I ran down (actually, I drove) to the HD nearest me (Aspen Hill, MD) and found no such plastic box (Carlon?) either in stock or on sale. The gentleman manning the electrical goods aisle to
TT: I know you've all been waiting with baited breath to see the pix of my Trylon T-500-64's installation from 2001. Thanks to the Christmas generosity of my daughter, I now have a working scanner th
Charles: For an even more expensive, but all-steel, enclosure, check Hoffman Enclosures: http://www.hoffmanonline.com/stream_document.aspx?rRID=104764&pRID=4184 . I used two of these boxes, one at my
TT: I've added to my tower album a few more photos that were needed to illustrate the remaining elements of the project. You can find the collection at: http://s83.photobucket.com/albums/j282/ersmar/
20 Jan 2008, 0635 UTC: Hearing HAARP direct signal barely above noise on 6792.5 kHz; echo is slightly lower in strength but discernable appr. 80% of the time. Noise S1, with bursts to S4, plus occasi
David et al: Self-supporting tower bases without leveling nuts have to be installed with the bottom tower section installed so you can plumb that first section. You can't just bury the base legs in c
TT: To all who have asked for photos of the T I used to plumb my tower - very sorry but my hard drive on my home PC crashed a few minutes ago. I won't be able to retrieve and forward the images until
TT: OK, I'm back on-line. You can find the photo of the plumb line and T that I used for my Trylon tower at http://s83.photobucket.com/albums/j282/ersmar/?action=view¤t=PlumbingT2.jpg . 73 de G
TT: I found this while rummaging on QRZ.COM today: http://www.datacommelectronics.com/product.php?ID=408 . The usual commercial disclaimers apply. 73 de Gene Smar AD3F _______________________________
TT: I know I'm missing something important here, but what part of the proposed balun needs to be sealed? If it's the spot where the leads emerge from the coax jacket to connect to the feedpoint hardw
Ward: I use most of method #2 - solder a pigtail to the coax braid. But I use hot melt glue and shrink tubing to seal the end of the coax. Not my idea - I got this method from the ARRL's antenna comp
Martin et al: Commercial pressurization systems are pretty complex and cannot be used with just ANY coax. Air dielectric cables, typically used for QRO microwave sysems, require nitrogen under pressu
TT: Sorry - it's dry, pressurized air and not nitrogen that is used in commercial pressurized coax systems. Even more complex when driers are included. My apologies. 73 de Gene Smar AD3F Martin et al
Art: I agree with others who have advised against using steel wool. For yet another alternative, you can use a Scotchbrite (plastic) scouring pad to clean your aluminum, then use another clean piece
Glenn: I installed my Polyphasers at the bottom of my tower in a steel box because I also have a coax switch in there. If I had installed the Poly's at the shack, I would have left the switch inputs
Larry: I came up with a way to homebrew a coax ground clamp for the RG-213 coax runs down my tower: http://lists.contesting.com/archives//html/Towertalk/2002-07/msg00698.html . The trick is to really
Jim et al: In the early chapters of his book <The Grounds for Lightning rise due to lightning strikes on towers. You know, el dee aye dee tee stuff. The entire book is a worthwhile read for us tower
TT: <snip> 8) And my final comment... an antenna in the air will outperform a model, every time. Just put the damned thing up! N2EA Jim Jarvis, MBA President-Executive Coach The Morse Group, LLC 732
Greg: Another suggestion: U-bolt an aluminum angle of appropriate width (~12-18 inches) horizontally at waist level and drape your belt around it. You might also want to add another angle above your