Spraying while climbing is one sure way of getting stung and possibly
landing on your head.
It is the end of the season and they are swarming to the heat radiated by
the tower. They are non threatening as long as YOU dont annoy them.
They seem to stay within the 20-80' range on my towers and I just do a
steady climb and keeping a very careful eye on where I place my hands.
OTOH, I kill without mercy any that try and start a nest in or on my house,
garage, outbuildings, tower sections, etc.
Carl
KM1H
----- Original Message -----
From: "Barry" <w2up3@verizon.net>
To: "Kimberly Elmore" <cw_de_n5op@sbcglobal.net>
Cc: <towertalk@contesting.com>
Sent: Thursday, October 04, 2007 1:13 PM
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Swapping out a T2X & Wasps...
> Here in the northeast it's wasp and yellow jacket season. I got stung
> on the side of my head while bicycling last weekend!
>
> This time of year I never do any tower work without carrying a can of
> spray up with me. If it's bad, I delay the work until after the first
> hard freeze, after which they all die until next summer. That may be
> your best bet.
> GL,
> Barry W2UP
>
> Kimberly Elmore wrote:
>> Yesterday, the wind was calm enough that I decided it would be a good
>> dayswap out my jammed T2X with one that I'd rebuilt. So, I prepare
>> everything and head up my HDBX48 tower (8 ft of mast above the top with
>> modest antennas: KML-KT34A at top, Cushcraft 40-CD2 at bottom, dipole for
>> WARC in between plus a VHF/UHF discone at the very top and a 2m/70 cm
>> corner reflector near the middle). About 2/3 of the way up, I notice that
>> there seem to be a lot of bugs flying about. I look more carefully and
>> see that these are wasps. Believing that discretion is the better part of
>> valor, I retreat.
>>
>> "Great, a wasp nest is up there someplace." I get some wasp and hornet
>> killer, go up a ways, and try squirting the stuff up there but it won't
>> go far enough and I can't get a good angle, anyway. I thought to use my
>> pressure washer with some insecticide injected through the injector
>> system, but the motor won't start (something else to fix). Then, lo and
>> behold!, by early evening all the wasps are gone. Vanished.
>>
>> Armed with wasp killer, I start up again. When I get to the mounting
>> plate, I find that there is no sign of any wasp activity: no nests,
>> nothing. I go about my business, secure the bottom of the mast with SS
>> hose clamps to each leg just above the rotator, and make the rotator
>> swap. Darkness falls and I have to stop, but things are secure enough and
>> I completed it this morning in more wind than I like. Yet, all went well.
>>
>> I mentioned this to my kids (8 and 7) and they tell me "Oh, yes, Daddy:
>> we see wasps up there all the time." First I'd heard of it. In all the
>> years I've had this tower (going on 20 between Oklahoma and Colorado)
>> I've never seen the like. Does anyone have a clue as to what's going on?
>> Is there any way to dissuade these critters? I need to go up there again
>> to set up my 160 m shunt feed...
>>
>> 73,
>>
>> Kim Elmore, N5OP
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>>
>>
>>
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>>
>>
>>
>
> --
>
> Barry Kutner, W2UP Newtown, PA
>
> _______________________________________________
>
>
>
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