Rohn Hbx 56

[AA4ZZ at aol.com]

    A friend and regular contest participant has  purcased a used Rohn Hbx 56
tower and asked me to post the following question to the reflector:

1.The thrust bearing is rusty but turns freely,Does it need to be replaced?

2.What is the best way to ground the tower?

3.Which is preferable base stubs or the hinged base and why?

4.What other suggestions do you have about the installation of this tower?


73 Paul AA4ZZ

>From Jim Reid <jreid at aloha.net>  Tue Apr 16 08:19:56 1996
From: Jim Reid <jreid at aloha.net> (Jim Reid)
Date: Mon, 15 Apr 1996 21:19:56 -1000
Subject: Revisionist history...yet again!
Message-ID: <1.5.4b12.32.19960416071956.006ec758 at aloha.net>

Paul,  I messed up;  it was Larry Thielen who left ATI in the
late Summer or early Fall of 1965 to organize Avantek!  Larry
took with him three of Bill Ayer's productive engineer-business men:
Len Seader, Jim Sterret, and Franz Mc Vey(Sp? maybe Vay).  Now that
you remind me of the '68 date for Dave's departure,  I remember 
better.

I really felt ATI lost much more possible future business with
Larry and the others leaving than with Dave's oscillator
design loss,  but who knows?  It wouldd have depended upon
Ayer being willing to invest in the then emerging hightech
silicon transistor fab field of 2 to 3 micron technology,
which was pushing everything in the field-optics, bonding, etc.,
and the use of saphire substrates for hybrid thin-film
circuit technology.  I really believe that the fathers of
ATI would not have supported Larry Thielen's vision in that
direction,  and am not sure Ayer would have supported the fooling
around that went on at Cal Microwave in the early years to
develope a real growth strategy;  I think it was a large amount of
luck,  and of course,  Dave's intelligence which ultimately made
the correct spur of the moment decisions- not a vision as I
would credit to Larry Thielen.

Did they ever really do much with that oscillator at Cal Micro.?

I feel a bit strange now living within a couple of miles of where
Larry died here on Kauai in 1983,  or is it just a small
world coincidence?

73,  Jim,AH6NB