[TowerTalk] Swapping out a T2X & Wasps...

Thu Oct 4 17:24:37 EDT 2007

>
> If you want to "test for hidden wasps" before climbing a tower,   Take a 
> look at Today's CNN website videos.
>
> Look for a video by Jerry Cook, in Afghanistan, that demonstrates in a 
> very scary way how the wasps come out of
> hiding.  An explosion, some 200 meters away,  brought out swarms of 
> "apparently angry" wasps out in droves.
> The video of the wasps, look like something out of a Hitchcock horror 
> movie.
>
> So.... If you are looking for latent wasps near the tower before you risk 
> exposure on the tower.  maybe a big balloon "Pop"

Ahhh... No, it takes the concussion so unless you live well out in the 
country in a Midwest, or western state(except the Rebuplik of Kalifornia) 
anything strong enough to creat a concusion or shock strong enough to 
disturb the wasps will either bring out the local constabulary, or ATF.

 > will bring them out, if they are lurking.   The CNN video seems to show 
that they are quick to anger if exposed to concussions.

Or if you damage one of their brethern they will most likely take exception 
to your presence.
A couple years back (2 or 3) I removed over 40 nests from our one acre lot 
in one summer.
Some of those nests were larger than a football.

*Normally* you can work around them on a cool evening as long as you don't 
disturb them. I emphasized the normally as there are exceptions. <:-))

*Normally* wasps and yellowjackets leave me alone, but a Skunk dug out a 
yellowjacket nest on the north side of my shop earlier this week.  I can 
tell you which night it was too. It was really aeromatic outside and that 
was a big nest it dug up. Tht skunk must have painted the whole north side 
of the shop and a bit of it drifted onto the 4-Runner. At any rate when I 
was out there Tuesday, tightening guy lines to my vertical one  of the 
little suckers got me on the inside of my left arm ritht at the shirt cuff. 
(they were still in a bad mood after the skumk episode, but then again, 
yellowjackets are usually in a bad mood) I hosed the area where the Skunk 
had dug  with wasp and yellowjacket killer. I ended up with a ball of dead 
yellowjackets as big as a softball.

73

Roger (K8RI) I'll put up a photo of the tuning unit from my AV640 with 
"guests"

>
> Try this URL for the video:
> http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/ireports/2007/10/04/vo.ireport.wasps.cnn?iref=videosearch
>
> All the Best, 73,
> Pat Barthelow     aa6eg at hotmail.com
> http://www.jamesburgdish.org
> Subscribe: http://bambi.net/jamesburg.html
> Jamesburg Earth Station  Moon Bounce Team
>
>
>
>
>> Date: Thu, 4 Oct 2007 13:17:29 -0400
>> From: George.Dubovsky at andrew.com
>> To: cw_de_n5op at sbcglobal.net; towertalk at contesting.com
>> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Swapping out a T2X & Wasps...
>>
>> I am in central VA, and I see the same thing; on a warm, calm day, there
>> will be perhaps a hundred (or more) wasps distributed along the length
>> of the tower. They seem to be non-resident, and they just fly around,
>> occasionally lighting on a rung or tower leg. Just two weeks ago, I was
>> doing some tower work for a friend, and they were everywhere. They
>> didn't seem threatened or threatening, so I just worked amongst 'em,
>> occasionally swatting one out of the way. Dunno...
>>
>> 73,
>>
>> geo - n4ua
>>
>> > -----Original Message-----
>> > From: towertalk-bounces at contesting.com [mailto:towertalk-
>> > bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Kimberly Elmore
>> > Sent: Thursday, October 04, 2007 1:00 PM
>> > To: towertalk at contesting.com
>> > Subject: [TowerTalk] Swapping out a T2X & Wasps...
>> >
>> > 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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>> >
>>
>>
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