[TowerTalk] KT34A and no tower

[VR2BrettGraham]

Although well intentioned, the feedback on N9LJX's KT34-on-a-
pole installation is interesting as I have had pretty much the
same thing here & frankly, tribander-on-a-pole is about all one
can do here.

With the exception of two tilt-over masts, we all have used
water pipe.

Oh no - not water pipe!  I can hear the flame-throwers clicking
from safe to fire already.

The trick is working with what you have, as appropriate for the
circumstances.

Few here can put up anything that can be left up for extreme
inclement weather, so two telescoping lengths of water pipe
to get 5-7m above the roof is not a safety concern.  Almost
a two-person job to raise with a KT34A, but one person can
lower & that is probably the most important consideration
here: getting the antenna down quickly, safely & without
assistance.

That KT34A-on-a-pole later went on a tower, spun by a T^2X.
Instead of windmilling, a similar but different problem is
torque going into the tower from winds not high enough to
merit dropping the beam before storm hits.  This is because
aluminium Meccano-like towers are what we have if one has
a tower, not R25 or the like.  The tag-line-from-end-of-boom
solution to this could just as easily be applied to an HD73 or
any other less-than-well-'ard rotator mounted on a pole.

We would have no antennas here if we followed what is
suggested on towertalk - and this in an environment where
that tribander is often 20-odd floors above street level &
failure will see bits falling to the ground.  The key is to work
with what you have as appropriate for the situation.

I would not hesitate to do what N9LJX proposed, other than
too much mast above the rotator - that bit is not a good idea.
But the rest need not be dismissed outright as dodgy.

73, VR2BrettGraham