[TowerTalk] Simple Tower Construction

[JC Smith]

John,

How did you make your "thrust bearing" watertight?

73 - JC, k0hps at amsat.org


-----Original Message-----
From: towertalk-bounces at contesting.com
[mailto:towertalk-bounces at contesting.com]On Behalf Of W0UN -- John Brosnahan
Sent: Monday, July 18, 2005 3:56 AM
To: kb0fhp at comcast.net; towertalk at contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Simple Tower Construction

At 10:08 PM 7/17/2005, you wrote:
>I like that Idea - very simple and easy.  For what I plan, it can be made
>simplier too.  Install the pipe as you did, and attach the rotor to the
pipe
>(sticking about 5-6' above the roof).  Capping each end will avoid water
>collecting in the pipe.  Using standard available flashing, it shouldn't
>leak.  Just take a lot of beefing up on the roof.  With a shortened mast,
>the overturning moment is small..... I like that.....

When I was at the University of Missouri a group of us lived in an old,
2-story house, with a HIGH attic.  I bolted my Ham-M rotator to the floor
of the attic, directly under the peak of the roof, and rotated an 18 ft
length
of water pipe that stuck out above the roof by about 11 ft or so.  On this
pipe I mounted a 2L cubical quad and it worked very well for me.  This was
in the 1960s and I work a lot of 20M long path into the middle east with
stations like EP3AM and YI1BGD.

I beefed up the area just below the peak to act as a thrust bearing.  Only
real problem was the rotator made some noise because it was bolted to
the floor -- which was the ceiling for the guys who lived on the 2nd floor.
No problem for me since I lived on the 1st floor.  Even mounting the rotator
above the roof will still couple some noise into the house.  Not a problem
as long as your operating times don't conflict with anyone wanting to sleep.
In the case of the Ham-M it was more an issue of the noise of the brake
rather than the rotating noise itself.  I am sure I could have
quieted it some if
I had not been a very POOR student at the time.  A few bucks on some
sound-deadening materials might have helped a lot.

--John  W0UN




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