Author: Dick Blumenstein <rcblumen@centurylink.net>
Date: Tue, 12 Apr 2016 15:12:48 -0400
Not sure what you mean by the "drums vertical"? Do you mean that the wire is mostly vertical being stored on the drums; that the drums are sitting on edge? Dick K0CAT == David Aslin G3WGN wrote on 4/
Author: Dick Blumenstein <rcblumen@centurylink.net>
Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2016 10:28:42 -0400
Hello tower and antenna gurus I was hoping that some of you would critique my upcoming plans and also answer any questions I have to see if they can be improved. (Thank you in advance for spending th
Author: Dick Blumenstein <rcblumen@centurylink.net>
Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2016 11:35:01 -0400
HI Ed There is very little surface rust on the tower and I got it for a very good price, especially considering the addition of the antennas, prop pitch motor, Green Heron digital prop pitch motor co
Author: Dick Blumenstein <rcblumen@centurylink.net>
Date: Fri, 15 Jul 2016 11:58:52 -0400
Hi Paul I thought that one is NOT supposed to ever weld to the rebar, unless the rebar is spec'd for welding, which most are not; that all grounding wire should be clamped to the rebar and then when
Author: Dick Blumenstein <rcblumen@centurylink.net>
Date: Sun, 24 Jul 2016 12:04:02 -0400
From everything I've read, the prevailing overall grounding technique is to run a heavy duty copper wire from the grounding system around the tower, back to the ground rod outside the shack wall as w
Author: Dick Blumenstein <rcblumen@centurylink.net>
Date: Sun, 24 Jul 2016 21:40:35 -0400
David You might tell that to Glen Zook, K9STH, who I understand had been writing articles for electronic magazines for decades: <www.w0btu.com/files/misc/R.F._Grounding_primer_2.pdf> Dick, K0CAT == D
Author: Dick Blumenstein <rcblumen@centurylink.net>
Date: Sun, 24 Jul 2016 22:09:30 -0400
Thanks Jim for your input. I will have to study your presentations in more depth. Years ago, I worked building audio amplifiers and tape duplicators that also had a small oscillator for some AC bias
Author: Dick Blumenstein <rcblumen@centurylink.net>
Date: Tue, 26 Jul 2016 12:36:56 -0400
Steve May the force be with you... (or should I say, it appears the force is with you TOO MUCH!). (Sigh... when man makes plans, G-d laughs.) Sorry for all your troubles. I have no idea what I'll be
Author: Dick Blumenstein <rcblumen@centurylink.net>
Date: Tue, 30 Aug 2016 14:33:55 -0400
Hi Gary I found this link from K7NV <http://k7nv.com/notebook/topics/windload.html>. Hopefully, this will help. I would assume you would do a force calculation for each diameter piece and add the for
Author: Dick Blumenstein <rcblumen@centurylink.net>
Date: Wed, 1 Mar 2017 22:42:57 -0500
PS - I had a manufacturing company that used winches and cables in its products. I would NEVER recommend using those mechanical U clamps. I've seen the wires slip out using 2 clamps. I would recommen
I'm going to be laying my coax soon to my tower in NC. I plan to NOT put it in PVC conduit once it goes below ground. I've read that condensate in pipe will eventually cause it to fill with water and
I stand corrected. I think you folks are correct. My idea of burying coax in sand and protecting it with plastic trim boards is not as good as laying the coax in perforated pvc pipes that have drain
Steve I would shy away from gluing sections of pipe while at the same time laying coax. As you said, too much chance of affecting the coax outer covering. At my last QTH, I had conduit that did not h
Author: Dick Blumenstein <rcblumen@centurylink.net>
Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2017 14:43:06 -0400
Hi Jeff Whether it screws up the ufer ground, I really don't know. I just poured a 5'x5'x8.5' hole and was advised to not paint the rebar. However, because of the requirements of the engineering dra
Larry I'm in the process of finishing up a 73' US Tower install. If you are getting a building permit to put it up, I would follow tower manufacturer's instructions to a Tee. If not, you run risk of
Author: Dick Blumenstein <rcblumen@centurylink.net>
Date: Mon, 16 Oct 2017 22:53:05 -0400
Hello Jeff Shortly, I am going to be using 2" wide copper strapping on my tower legs. However, I am NOT attaching them to the tower leg bolts. Instead, I will be clamping them on each tower leg about
Author: Dick Blumenstein <rcblumen@centurylink.net>
Date: Thu, 9 Nov 2017 10:29:42 -0500
Hello tower gurus My 73 crank up tower just went vertical a couple of days ago. This is my first tower. Im starting the planning of the antenna coax interface box near the bottom of the tower and gro
Hello Chris: As we write, I am presently connecting all my 10 ground rods with 2 awg stranded Cu using Harger cad welds. I received a lot of input from people and have looked at products that allow o
(Corrected due to typos) Hello Chris: As we write, I am presently connecting all my 10 ground rods with 2 awg stranded Cu using Harger cad welds. I received a lot of input from people and have looked
Hello (et al): Joe checked out a monthly column I have been writing in our newsletters for the Lenoir (NC) Amateur Radio Club. The tower hole excavation began in the August 2017 newsletter and has co