[TowerTalk] TowerTalk Digest, Vol 161, Issue 91

[HankP]

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> Today's Topics:
> 1. Re: [Bulk] Re: PL259 Cobbectors Part 2 - Murray W9EHQ (Mike Ryan)
> 2. Re: [Bulk] Re: PL259 Cobbectors Part 2 - Murray W9EHQ (Bob K6UJ)
> 3. Re: [Bulk] Re: PL259 Cobbectors Part 2 - Murray W9EHQ
> (Kevin Stover)
> 4. Re: Tower maintenance person wanted - MN (K7LXC at aol.com)
> 5. Re: Tilt-Over Rohn 25? (Gary J - N5BAA)
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Message: 1
> Date: Sun, 15 May 2016 12:11:33 -0400
> From: "Mike Ryan" <mryan001 at tampabay.rr.com>
> To: "Tower and HF antenna construction topics."
> <towertalk at contesting.com>
> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] [Bulk] Re: PL259 Cobbectors Part 2 - Murray
> W9EHQ
> Message-ID: <8D43883ABF804EF9A3434C0CEAAADE6B at MichaelRyanPC>
> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
> reply-type=original
> This is the same stuff that STEPPIR supplies with their antennas. AND
> it
> does work great. You can also find it in BLACK under another name, in
> the
> plumbing department at HOME DEPOT. Sells for about $9 per roll give or
> take. That being said, some guys at hamfests sell it. Some are dealers
> who
> sell imported power cables, connectors, quick disconnects, etc. LOOK
> CLOSELY...what I have seen these guys do is to run off HALF of the
> roll, and
> sell it for the same price as found in the stores, on eBay, or other
> sources. I think a roll is supposed to have 12ft. from Rescue Tape.
> Sometimes it is called "Tommy Tape" or other names. But it is a self
> fusing
> tape. Stretch it while wrapping your connectors, etc. It really seals
> ll. - Mike
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Hank Garretson
> Sent: Sunday, May 15, 2016 11:19 AM
> To: Tower and HF antenna construction topics.
> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] [Bulk] Re: PL259 Cobbectors Part 2 - Murray
> W9EHQ
> For outdoor waterproofing of RG-8 connections, I use Rescue Tape.
> http://www.amazon.com/Rescue-Tape-RT1000201201USC-RT1000201201USCO/dp/B00AEBKYPG/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1463325032&sr=8-3&keywords=rescue+tape
> . For me it works like a champ. Easy on, easy off (with a gentle
> razor-blade cut). After years, everything inside is bright and shiny.
> If
> there is a downside to this stuff, I haven't found it.
> 73,
> Hank, W6SX
> _______________________________________________
> _______________________________________________
> TowerTalk mailing list
> TowerTalk at contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
> ------------------------------
> Message: 2
> Date: Sun, 15 May 2016 09:22:10 -0700
> From: Bob K6UJ <k6uj at pacbell.net>
> To: towertalk at contesting.com
> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] [Bulk] Re: PL259 Cobbectors Part 2 - Murray
> W9EHQ
> Message-ID: <5738A232.30006 at pacbell.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed
> this thread is very educational !
> Butyl tape wrap looks to be the technique of
> choice for pro installations.
> Bob
> K6UJ
> On 5/15/16 8:34 AM, john at kk9a.com wrote:
> > You can get surplus butyl very cheaply from tower installers. I'm
> > not sure
> > why more hams don't do what the pros do.
> >
> > John KK9A
> >
> >
> > To: Bob K6UJ <k6uj at pacbell.net>, towertalk at contesting.com
> > Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] [Bulk] Re: PL259 Cobbectors Part 2 - Murray
> > W9EHQ
> > From: Grant Saviers <grants2 at pacbell.net>
> > Date: Sat, 14 May 2016 21:23:02 -0700
> > List-post:
> > <towertalk at contesting.com">mailto:towertalk at contesting.com>
> > Here are the instructions from Andrew for Helix connector splices
> > http://www.commscope.com/catalog/doc/pdf/2004/Weatherproofing_Kit_for_Connec
> > tors_and_Antennas.pdf
> >
> > Similar to the well wire splice insulating technique. The Andrew
> > butyl tape
> > is a winner. The kits are about $15 and good for about a dozen 1/2
> > to 1/2"
> > connections.
> >
> > My tower installer used the Andrew kits and finished with a couple
> > of coats
> > of Krylon exterior acrylic spray over the final vinyl tape wrap,
> > cheaper and
> > easier than 3M Scotchcoat.
> >
> > Grant KZ1W
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > TowerTalk mailing list
> > TowerTalk at contesting.com
> > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
> >
> ------------------------------
> Message: 3
> Date: Sun, 15 May 2016 11:26:10 -0500
> From: Kevin Stover <kevin.stover at mediacombb.net>
> To: towertalk at contesting.com
> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] [Bulk] Re: PL259 Cobbectors Part 2 - Murray
> W9EHQ
> Message-ID: <5738A322.4090606 at mediacombb.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed
> SteppIR doesn't use butyl tape and longer on the element seams.
> They use glue coated heat shrink.
> On 5/15/2016 11:11 AM, Mike Ryan wrote:
> > This is the same stuff that STEPPIR supplies with their antennas.
> > AND
> > it does work great. You can also find it in BLACK under another
> > name,
> > in the plumbing department at HOME DEPOT. Sells for about $9 per
> > roll
> > give or take. That being said, some guys at hamfests sell it. Some
> > are
> > dealers who sell imported power cables, connectors, quick
> > disconnects,
> > etc. LOOK CLOSELY...what I have seen these guys do is to run off
> > HALF
> > of the roll, and sell it for the same price as found in the stores,
> > on
> > eBay, or other sources. I think a roll is supposed to have 12ft.
> > from
> > Rescue Tape. Sometimes it is called "Tommy Tape" or other names. But
> > it is a self fusing tape. Stretch it while wrapping your connectors,
> > etc. It really seals ll. - Mike
> >
> > -----Original Message----- From: Hank Garretson
> > Sent: Sunday, May 15, 2016 11:19 AM
> > To: Tower and HF antenna construction topics.
> > Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] [Bulk] Re: PL259 Cobbectors Part 2 - Murray
> > W9EHQ
> >
> > For outdoor waterproofing of RG-8 connections, I use Rescue Tape.
> > http://www.amazon.com/Rescue-Tape-RT1000201201USC-RT1000201201USCO/dp/B00AEBKYPG/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1463325032&sr=8-3&keywords=rescue+tape
> >
> > . For me it works like a champ. Easy on, easy off (with a gentle
> > razor-blade cut). After years, everything inside is bright and
> > shiny. If
> > there is a downside to this stuff, I haven't found it.
> >
> > 73,
> >
> > Hank, W6SX
> > _______________________________________________
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > TowerTalk mailing list
> > TowerTalk at contesting.com
> > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
> > _______________________________________________
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > TowerTalk mailing list
> > TowerTalk at contesting.com
> > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
> >
> --
> R. Kevin Stover
> AC0H
> ARRL
> FISTS #11993
> SKCC #215
> NAQCC #3441
> ---
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> ------------------------------
> Message: 4
> Date: Sun, 15 May 2016 12:46:08 -0400
> From: K7LXC at aol.com
> To: awswinger at earthlink.net, fred.hurd at cox.net,
> towertalk at contesting.com
> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Tower maintenance person wanted - MN
> Message-ID: <550e24.6e0ba458.446a01d0 at aol.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
> > - Cables last changed by a UST tech in 2010
> Which begs the question who did it and what did it cost?
> > - during 2014/2015 winter (~Dec 2014) cable at base of tower jumped
> > the
> pulley (I guess due to ice) when I was lowering the tower. So, cable
> was
> riding on the Pulley axle until I could lower it to get at the
> cable/Spring
> end. Used several cans of pre-lube during this lowering process. Once
> down,
> I was able to Stop-off the cable and release the spring tension to get
> the
> cable back onto the pulley. Checked for broken strands, and only found
> one
> surface strand broken in the 8-10 ft of cable that underwent the sharp
> bend. Otherwise, cables look good and tower works all OK.
> . . . thus my concern, at least about the lower cable.
> > Comments?
> Industry standards are typically for wire rope in a working
> environment where it might go thru dozens or hundreds of cycles a day.
> Normal ham use
> is so intermittent that the cables don't get to work much, thus my
> recommendation to exercise a crank-up occasionally so that it actually
> does some
> work.
> Your damaged spot was probably relatively small so it probably wasn't
> fatal even in the long term. I'm not going to discourage doing PM like
> this
> but sometimes it's more psychological help.
> Cheers,
> Steve K7LXC
> TOWER TECH
> ------------------------------
> Message: 5
> Date: Sun, 15 May 2016 12:02:46 -0500
> From: "Gary J - N5BAA" <qltfnish at omniglobal.net>
> To: "Kirk Kleinschmidt" <sohosources at yahoo.com>,
> <towertalk at contesting.com>
> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Tilt-Over Rohn 25?
> Message-ID: <10E7DEAA833D4BFCBCA0A4734FB95806 at GaryPC>
> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="utf-8";
> reply-type=original
> This might be of help:
> http://www.ebay.com/itm/301819075388?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
> and/or see if you can find an AB1386/u crank up antenna mast which
> reaches
> 32 ft. Seller j5w233 sells them on Ebay. He doesn't have any listed
> right
> now, but if you search on ab1386/u and then look at the sold listings
> you
> can get a place to send him an email or note. Last I checked he had
> 40-50
> of them in his warehouse in Pennsylvania. Seller beltfed34 sells
> ab1386/u
> parts and antenna mounts for them on Ebay.
> Gary J
> N5BAA
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Kirk Kleinschmidt via TowerTalk
> Sent: Sunday, May 15, 2016 2:26 AM
> To: towertalk at contesting.com
> Subject: [TowerTalk] Tilt-Over Rohn 25?
> Hi gang,
> After 12 years in a condo with attic antennas, I will soon have a
> "short"
> acre on which to farm some antennas. I expect to try a few low-band
> types
> that are new to me, and will be looking for some feedback and input.
> :)
> This might get a bit windy, so please bear with me.
> First up -- Tilt-over mount for Rohn 25:
> In central MN, when I was a new ham in the '70s, because we were in a
> "fringy" area for TV reception, MANY homeowners had 50-foot tip-up
> masts to
> support big TV Yagis and small rotators. Back then, the 2- to 4-inch
> steel
> pipe required to construct these tip-ups was reasonably trivial in
> cost. A
> 50-foot single mast was made from several "telescoped" sections of
> steel
> pipe, welded or bolted together. Two parallel steel pipes were sunk
> into the
> ground and cemented in place, with 10 to 15 feet of the vertical
> supports
> sticking out above ground. The vertical tip-up mast was centered in
> the two
> fixed uprights, and a top-mounted pivot allowed the mast to be raised
> and
> lowered with a bottom-mounted winch.
> All or most of you know what I'm describing, so I will now stop! My
> point
> is, the steel with which to make such a tip-up mast now far exceeds
> the cost
> of buying abandoned or unused Rohn or Rohn-style towers. The question
> is,
> how do I make a reasonably priced tip-up or tilt-over mount for these
> things?
> At my new QTH, I have four Rohn towers to play with. All were donated
> to my
> cause, purchased for $100, or were "free if you'll just take the thing
> down
> and haul it away." I have two 40-foot Rohn 25s with 3-into-1 top
> sections,
> one BX64 (that will probably stop at 48 or 56 feet for improved wind
> load
> capacity [to be discussed later], and one 40-foot BX40.
> My "benchmark" antenna over the years has been a full-wave horizontal
> loop
> (triangle shaped) cut for about 5 MHz, fed with open-wire line and a
> ground-mounted autocoupler. And because of the lay of the land at the
> new
> place, I plan to install three towers in a triangle configuration (no
> mature
> trees). The "big" tower (if you can call a 48-56 footer big :) will be
> near
> the house. It will eventually host an HF beam. It will also hold up
> one leg
> of the horizontal loop.
> The BX40 will go next to the garage and will host beams for 6, 2 and
> TV.
> The two 40-foot 25Gs (the second and third skyhooks for the triangle
> loop)
> will go in the back yard. They will be 70 to 90 feet apart. In
> addition to
> holding up their respective loop legs, I'm hoping to make each tower
> (and
> the mast on top) into verticals -- perhaps phased in some way (more on
> that
> later).
> So, my thought process is, if I want to have the most flexibility in
> tuning
> and loading these identical verticals on multiple bands, it would be
> handy
> to have them sufficiently insulated from the ground. A grounded tower
> can be
> shunt fed, but I think that's pretty much a monoband solution...
> I also don't want to climb towers unnecessarily, so I was thinking
> about how
> to make an insulated tilt-over mount for the 40-foot 25G towers. My
> best
> idea so far (!) was to sink a salvaged 25-foot telephone pole into the
> ground (15 feet above ground, with help from a private utility
> contractor),
> or sink a 20-foot pressure treated 8 x 8 beam into the ground, with
> cement,
> like a tower base (14 feet above ground).
> In either case I'd have about 15 feet of "heavy timber" on which to
> build a
> plate-steel "tip down" or "lay down" mount. With a lay-down mount, the
> bottom of the tower would be attached to the timber via a typical
> triangular
> plate steel base with massive hinge/pivot. This allows the tower to
> "lay
> down" near ground level. At the top of the vertical timber would be a
> winch
> or a pulley (for the raising cable) and a retention bracket to keep
> the
> tower locked and upright when it's vertical.
> Will such a tower be sufficiently insulated from ground for use as a
> multiband vertical?
> Will a telephone pole or a pressure-treated timber handle the stresses
> of
> raising and lowering (and of simply remaining upright)? I could also
> guy the
> tower (NOT in the way I'd guy it if I were to climb it, but something
> similar, but much less expensive).
> Will the tower handle being raised and lowered by a winch, and
> where/how
> should I attach the raising cable?
> If a single timber isn't rigid enough, perhaps I could build a box
> beam or a
> twin-rail I-beam from four 20-foot 2 x 12s?
> Remember: This tower won't be climbed and won't have any antennas on
> top. It
> will simply have to keep itself upright, hold up one leg of a
> lightweight
> wire antenna, and/or be used as a vertical (eventually phased). And
> handle
> occasional raising and lowering.
> I don't know any mechanical engineers or "strength of materials"
> folks, but
> I am interested in finding one or two who might be able to help me
> with load
> and stress analyses -- and with materials.
> I might also be able to use a dual-attachment system for the raising
> cable.
> One end of a short cable would connect near the top of the tower, with
> the
> other end connecting near the midpoint. This "tower-side loop" would
> attach
> to the raising cable by way of a pulley, so as the tower is being
> raised and
> lowered from the 15-foot mast, the loads would spread out along the
> length
> of the tower a bit.
> Saving grace: These things are in the back 40...and can't fall on the
> house,
> roads, etc.
> Am I way off base here, or might this arrangement actually work?
> As always, thanks,
> --Kirk, NT0Z
> My book, "Stealth Amateur Radio," is now available from
> www.stealthamateur.com and on the Amazon Kindle (soon)
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> ------------------------------
> End of TowerTalk Digest, Vol 161, Issue 91
> ******************************************