Dave:
If you plan on accessing your antenna infrequently, maybe renting some
scaffolding would be the answer. In my younger (college summer) days I used
to build scaffolds for the brick masons I worked with so they could
construct chimneys, etc.
This stuff is simple to bolt together (two side/ladders and two cross
braces per six foot section) and should get you up to 20-plus feet very
easily. It is also portable so access is not a big problem. Plus it'll
give you a nice platform from which you can haul up the Yagi and do work,
etc. You ought to tie the scaffolding onto the tower in that case, though.
Maybe you could even assemble the Yagi elements onto the boom from atop the
scaffolding.
Most commercial rental places carry this stuff. (The place where you
rent backhoes and posthole diggers.) Check yellow pages.
GL es 73 de
Gene Smar AD3F
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dave Haupt" <emailw8nf@yahoo.com>
To: <towertalk@contesting.com>
Sent: Wednesday, June 18, 2003 4:08 PM
Subject: [TowerTalk] Do I need to climb my tubular tower?
> Hi all,
>
> Looks like I'm going to have a 50 foot crank-up
> tubular tower. 23 feet tall when nested.
> Self-supporting in 4 yards of concrete, probably.
>
> I'll be putting a tribander on it. The rotor will
> mount at the top of the tower - this is not a rotating
> tower.
>
> How do I get the tribander up there? The yard in
> which the tower is planted is far too small for the
> antenna to be fully assembled at ground level.
>
> Until I get up to 12 feet off the ground, there is
> house, shed, fence, or tree within 10 feet in every
> direction, except for a 30 degree arc where the
> distance is about 20 feet. Because of zero lot lines
> and houses within a few feet on each side, there is no
> way to get a boom truck back there.
>
> Assuming it's a triband Yagi, I think the approach is
> to mount the boom at the 12 foot height level. This
> isn't trivial; the tower is 6" diameter at that
> height. So I think it will involve a homemade
> temporary bracket of some sort, possibly made of wood
> and employing hose clamps somehow. Haven't sorted out
> that detail yet, but I think it's possible.
>
> Then, using a large stepladder, install the elements
> to the boom, while the boom is at the 12 foot height.
>
> Then, somehow shinny the beam up to the top of the
> tower, in the process getting it past the rotor.
>
> So, it sounds like I'm going to have to climb this
> tower while it's nested.
>
> Has anybody done this before? I can imagine adding
> various brackets, again probably wood bits clamped to
> the tower, for foot rests, to enable climbing it. I'd
> have to consider very carefully how to attach the
> climbing belt - I won't sacrifice safety. If the
> method of climbing is slow, that's OK, as I don't plan
> to do it much.
>
> Once the beam's shinnied up to just under the rotor,
> have to figure some cable/chain, etc configuration so
> that if I lose hold of it while moving it to a
> position above the rotor, it can't fall.
>
> The whole thing seems more possible because the
> "height" work is only at 23 feet, not 50, but it's
> clearly not without risk.
>
> A possible alternative is to attach a pulley to the
> top and haul the beam up that way. I still have to
> get myself up there to do the attaching, which will
> require again either climing the thing or finding a
> ladder tall enough, which is not a trivial task in
> itself.
>
> Thoughts? Alternatives? BTDT?
>
> Thanks for tolerating me as I "do" my very first tower
> install...
>
> 73,
>
> Dave W8NF
>
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>
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