[TowerTalk] Tower, rotator and antenna maintenance

[Wayne Kline]

Turning 65 in DEC..  I don't free climb any more, so it's one rung at a time, no longer scampering up at a moments notice. We plan the day, the work, thinking through every conceivable problem and the fix / maintained or update.   I just did a total redo to my 70' ten meter tower , building two 6 element OWA antennas  , new Phillystran, New feed lines  and  two new coats of bright Rust Bullet Paint.I kind of subscribe to the notion  use it or loose it...   So to repate a little ditty I was told looooooog ago  When I was young and in my prime  Up  the tower, I would always climb. But now that I am Old and Gray I only Climb is once a day. Author Un know   Wayne W3EA 
 > Date: Thu, 8 Nov 2012 21:35:26 -0700
> From: xdavid at cis-broadband.com
> To: towertalk at contesting.com
> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Tower, rotator and antenna maintenance
> 
> 
> Speak for yourself.  There are a lot of people on this reflector well 
> past 60 who do their own tower work with relative ease.  It is 
> definitely NOT a "fact of life" that everyone's body and will starts to 
> break down in their 50's.
> 
> Dave   AB7E
> 
> 
> 
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: TowerTalk [mailto:towertalk-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of K0DAN
> > Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2012 6:22 PM
> > To: Rick Kiessig
> > Cc: towertalk at contesting.com
> > Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Tower, rotator and antenna maintenance
> >
> > The older you are, the less you'll do it!
> >
> > If you're in your 40's (or younger): No problem, you do it just for fun and
> > exercise! You like to go looking for problems and challenges. You are
> > disappointed if everything works perfectly. You regret that your tower is
> > the only place you are able to do "technical climbing".
> > If you're in your 50's: You can still do the work but are tired of it, the
> > risk, and the unexpected. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. If you go up the
> > tower, you pray you don't find the unexpected and hope for a miracle. You
> > are tempted to ask people for help.
> > If you're in your 60's: You have a motorized tower and lower it to the 20'
> > level and do the work using ladders and safety equipment. You still don't
> > enjoy it and it is still a lot more difficult than it used to be. You
> > occasionally pay the high price to rent a bucket. You hate doing the work
> > and hope & pray you can avoid it. You are no longer ashamed to ask other
> > people for help. You especially hope it is only routine maintenance and not
> > something seriously broken.
> > If you're in your 70's: You hire young guys to do it all, or you have
> > already moved to a non-ham-friendly condo location. You are probably happy
> > with a dipole in your attic and are actively looking into stealth antennas.
> > DX is now a 300 mile QSO on HF.
> > If you're in your 80's: You have made friends with some younger ham who has
> > a remote controlled station and you operate his station using Skype +
> > TeamView.
> > If you're in your 90's: You mostly read the SK section of QST. You show off
> > your WAS certificates made when there were only 48 states. Your DXCC and
> > other award certificates have two-digit certification numbers. 85% of DXCC
> > contacts are on the "deleted" list.
> >
> > No disrespect meant towards the young or the old on this spectrum....it's
> > just the facts of life!
> >
> > 73
> > K0DAN
> >
> 
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