George, I saw Angela sitting on your tower in one of the pictures! You are
a LUCKY LUCKY LUCKY MAN!!!! The tower is beautiful too! :-)
At 02:44 AM 02/23/2003 -0500, you wrote:
>Gentlemen,
>I installed a W51 last fall. Doug a hole 4X4X6 feet. First foot in clay,
>then 3 feet of sand. Took 3 days at 3/4 hours per day (I'm 46 with back
>issues). I used plywood in "channels" to prevent cave-in. As I dug the
>hole, the plywood dropped down on it own. preventing any problems. After
>I got to six feet, I had to YELL for my son to get his attention, so he
>could bring me a ladder. I dug myself into the hole. He just laughed and
>walked away, he was kidding around. Then he tossed small handfulls of dirt
>at me (now this was getting old fast!). He was 13. He also helped me put a
>quad on it.... a great kid. Anyway, For GOV'T issues, make sure you
>document the depth of the hole by having someone take a picture of you in
>the hole using a measuring tape. Put your finger at the six foot mark to
>prove the goal depth had been met. Aslo take pictures of the rebar cage
>before and after it;s hung in the hole on the three 2X8 inch joists. There
>are pictures of what I have done on "THE AM WINDOW" website...go to AB2KC
>in the A-V... then view
>section at http://www.amwindow.org/pix/htm/ab2kc/ab2kc1.htm There are a
>few pictures of the installation. I had a cement guy use a special
>motorized cement "handtruck" that he rode on, from the truck at the
>street... moving about 1/4 to 1/2 yards at a clip. As He dumped it in the
>hole the rebar cage that was bolted to the 2X8s moved slightly. When he
>was done dumping concrete, I used a level and POUNDED the cage to the
>correct level (very hard to do). Anyway, the W51 supports a 3 element 20
>meter quad with 3 elements on 15 and 4 elements on TEN, just slightly at
>the overload limit. I keep it down when not in use, and watch for winds
>over 35/40 MPH.
>George AB2KC
Dino...k6rix@arrl.net
|