I think I have the solution: kinetic sculpture! Ok, who is going to be the first to get an endowment from the National Endowment for the Arts to build a 200' kinetic art sculpture? BTW, I got my FAA
I just re-read the tower ordinance and found that I was mistaken about the fall radius requirement. Amateurs are exempted from that provision, so I suppose I'm free to construct my tower so that it c
In 1980, we moved the club station (W4DFU) at the University of Florida to the top floor of the Dental school (the roof was about 150' AGL). The shack is midway between elevator penthouses (about 125
You might want to call the regional office for your area and discuss it with them. I am going through the process with the Atlanta office and found them to be easy to work with (so far anyway...). I
As a variation on the bow and arrow, I have been using a pistol crossbow (about $12-$15 on eBay). I drill a very small hole in the end of the bolt (arrow) and tie a fishing line through it. The fishi
Can anyone confirm that the PT-3 gauge will measure 1/4" cable? http://www.loosco.com/index3.htm shows that it does, however, all of the vendor pages I found it on do not include 1/4". Thanks, Doug K
I have some AB-105 with some surface rust. I plan on putting part of it up for a 40'-50' tower beside my house. In order to make it less noticeable I plan to paint it black. (I have a black mast up n
All of the vendor web pages that I found agree with this. I just got an email response directly from Loos and they say that it does measure 1/4" (just as their web page says). I suspect that there a
In reading through what I could find on Ufer grounds and rebar bonding I found the following: 1) There are two standard grades of rebar commonly used: 40 and 60. Neither is intended to be welded, but
See: http://www.polyphaser.com/ppc_PEN1030.asp The Ufer ground is intended to be part of the grounding system, not the entire system. From my research, it appears to be a very good addition to the gr
On the prompting of several posts, I contacted the two nearest galvanizers that I could find: Tampa and Jacksonville. Tampa wants $0.69/# to strip the existing zinc and regalvanize. Jacksonville want
As a follow up, I received my PT-3 last week. It was indeed calibrated for 1/4" wire. Interestingly, the box had a sticker on it that says that it now includes 1/4", so it does look like the first PT
About 10 years ago, I built an HF communications system for the state law enforcement agency I was working for in Florida. We had frequencies scattered from 6 MHz to 13 MHz and the equipment was to b
The AB-105 that I inherited from W3AU only has a hand full of horizontal braces. I would like to put horizontals on the two towers that I'm going to put up for two reasons: 1) increased strength 2) e
LONDON, England (AP) -- A mysterious transmission that baffled British intelligence analysts for days was caused by a ram rubbing up against an aerial mast, a government agency said Tuesday. Scientis
An old radio tech trick: put 1/8 amp fuses in line with your telephone line (one in line with each wire). The fuses will virtually always blow before any equipment on the line can be damaged. About 8
I'm cleaning up a Butternut HF6V with 17m & 12m add-ons that has been out of service for about 10 years. I'm trying to decide how to mount it and what to do for radials. The area that is will be moun
Saw this and thought someone might be interested: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3059900707&category=4672 Ends in about 3.5 hours. Doug K4DDR _____________________________________
I have an electric fence charger on my property with my antennas as close as about 50'. The only time it puts out RFI is when it is arcing to something (a loose piece of rusted chicken wire, a frog o
Hydrochloric acid will clean copper very nicely. It is available from pool supply stores as Muratic acid (Muratic acid is just diluted Hydrochloric acid). It can be nasty stuff though, so don't get