Well I got to test the antenna setup for my EN39 trip this past weekend at
field day. We had a snag from the beginning - my buddy's welder ran out of gas
half way through him building a star mount for the guy lines. So we had to
come up with something else. The guy that had the place where we set up had
some scrap angle iron from a garage door opener, so we used a couple pieces of
this bolted to the rotator bracket and guyed off of them. It worked alright.
Overall the system worked how it was supposed to - we raised and lowered the
antennas in a relatively safe, controlled environment. In terms of raising the
antennas we hit one snag but were able to get around it for field day. That
was the pulley blocks were side loading, causing even more resistance on the
hoist line and the system locked up. So we had to push a pole up below the
rotator bracket to take some of the weight off the block and tackle and then
were able to get it up. We had to do it in stages
because we needed the guy lines tied down to keep the system upright as we
were raising it. We went about 4-6 inches at a time and then went back around
the guys to loosen them up, then another 4-6 inches.
So, the next step is to get the star mount finnished. I also need to get
different pulley blocks - either ones that have much less resistance (larger
sheaves) or go to a fiddle block to eliminate the side loading. Other than
that, I think I have have a system that is actually going to work when I get
to EN39! Also, the guy lines shouldnt be as necessary while setting up when I
am in EN39 because the main mast will be anchored to a deck about 5' up - the
mast wont be free-standing. That should knock out a whole lot of time in setup
- I should be able to raise everything and then guy it down, rather than
raise in 6" increments.
Steve, KC8QVO
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