[TowerTalk] Tower in the woods?

[Randy Farmer]

I quite agree on the skills and professionalism of the ham tower 
specialists. As a matter of fact, I'm working with my old Ohio buddy 
Don, K4ZA, who now lives and works out of Charlotte, on my TX-455 
installation. But there remains the fact these guys are hams, and they 
mostly reflect the demographic of the hobby. We all know what that is. 
How many of them will still be doing this work ten years from now when 
I'm 81 and the antenna or rotator breaks? Just sayin'..., but maybe I'm 
a pessimist.

73...
Randy, W8FN

On 8/19/2020 6:31 PM, Jim Brown wrote:
> On 8/19/2020 11:29 AM, Randy Farmer wrote:
>> I really want to go with a tower that allows me to maintain the 
>> antennas and rotator from ground level.
>
> That's one approach, but I've been well served by skilled ham climbers 
> who climb safely and know far more than I do rigging and wiring 
> antennas, and I'd bet that what I've paid them over the years is a lot 
> less that the fold-over project that you're envisioning that involves 
> building a road!
>
> For the last few years, Hector Garcia, XE2K/AD6D has been doing my 
> work, and I just hired a local, K3RRY, to rig a cell phone repeater. 
> Hector is based in Yuma, AZ, and travels extensively. The massive W7RN 
> station is one of his clients. As part of NCCC ground crews, I've 
> watched expert work by K7LXC and K7NV. Posting here will surely yield 
> more recommendations.
>
> BTW -- I also hire tree climbers to rig and maintain the high wires in 
> my trees. NI6T gave me good advice by repeating his mistake of topping 
> a redwood, clamping a section of Rohn 25 to it, and mounting HF Yagis 
> to the the tower section. The problem, he noted, was that while the 
> tree was free, the guys he could hire to climb it had no clue about 
> what to do when the got up there, as to good tower climbers who nearly 
> always do,
>
> 73, Jim K9YC