[TowerTalk] World's toughest fixes - 2000' tower

[Kelly Johnson]

When I was in high school I knew a ham that worked at the local tv
transmitter site.  He took me on a tour once.  There was a 996 ft.
tall tower next to the transmitter building.  This was in Michigan:
snow and ice in the winter!  The transmitter building had a roof that
was (I think) 1 foot thick solid wood to protect against ice falling
off the tower.  The workers at the transmitter parked their cars 1/4
mile away to avoid having ice fall on their cars.  I have no idea how
they protected themselves while walking to the transmitter building.
I guess hazardous duty pay isn't just required for the tower climbers
:-)


On Fri, Jul 17, 2009 at 9:41 AM, Thomas F. Giella
NZ4O<nz4o at tampabay.rr.com> wrote:
> I saw that particular program recently. The guy that is the star of the show
> seems fearless no matter what the big fix is.
>
> When I was 17 years old I was a journeyman electrician and A/C &
> refrigeration technician. The man that I worked for was pretty fearless
> also, he had survived D Day!!!
>
> Amongst many other things he handled the replacement of tower lighting in
> the region. One day we changed out the main light at the top of the tower
> for radio station WDCF 1350 kc in Dade City. We both climbed the 1/4 wave
> tower and I thought it was pretty neat because I was young and stupid.
>
> When we got to the top you could feel the tower sway a bit. The scary part
> of the climb was the thunderstorm that passed nearby. That scared the crap
> out of me but didn't phase the boss.
>
> 73 & GUD DX,
> Thomas F. Giella, NZ4O
> Lakeland, FL, USA
> nz4o at arrl.net
>
> NZ4O Amateur & SWL Radio Autobiography: http://www.nz4o.com
>
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