Towertalk
[Top] [All Lists]

[TowerTalk] Installing & de-Installing big Yagis

To: <towertalk@contesting.com>
Subject: [TowerTalk] Installing & de-Installing big Yagis
From: billh@restless.com (William H. Hein)
Date: Thu, 30 Apr 1998 14:38:40 -0700
I had to take down a VERY HEAVY full-size DX Engineering 4-L 40m Yagi in
Colorado last week.  Cheapest option was hiring a helicopter (at around
$500/hour) to pluck the Yagi from its 200 foot perch and lay it on the
ground.   Total cost (including yanking another rather large Yagi from a
different 200 foot tower and the time for the helicopter to fly from
Montrose to Tiffany and back) was around $2k.  A crane would have run me
well over $5k.  If the helicopter had been based in Durango, 20 miles
away, total tab would have been under $1k.

Bill AA6TT

-----
William H. Hein, Restless Records, a Regency Enterprises company
1616 Vista Del Mar Avenue, Hollywood CA 90028-6420 U.S.A.
tel (213) 957-4357  fax (213) 957-4355  mob (213) 305-7157
http://www.restless.com  billh@restless.com


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dale Jones K5MM [SMTP:ddjones@nas.com]
> Sent: Thursday, April 30, 1998 1:20 PM
> To:   towertalk@contesting.com
> Subject:      [TowerTalk] Installing & de-Installing big Yagis
> 
> 
>  To 'some' towertalky-uns  ---(Those that are interested)
> 
>  The note below is an edited version of a private note that K6KM
>  sent to me (K5MM) this morning.  It refers to removing a 3-element 
>  Force 12 40 meter yagi from an 80+ foot Rohn 45 tower. (He lives
>  on a very big hill)  
> 
>  He and I had discussed the options available to remove that antenna
>  from the tower.  The antenna needed some work done to it, and Bill
>  wanted to put this yagi on a different tower.
> 
>  Amongst the options considered were the high tramline, removing
>  the driven element and 'wiggling' the remains down through the
>  two sets of guy wires, removing all the guy wires from one side 
>  of the tower and dropping it down via a pulley rig, throwing the 
>  whole freaking thing down on the ground/guy wires and forgetting
>  it, using dynamite, etc.  
> 
>  I visited Bill over the weekend of WPX-SSB, and we had good
> intentions
>  to get that antenna down.  Intentions were defeated by other fish to
>  fry, resting, sleeping, laziness, and no visible & easy solution for 
>  2 old guys that came quickly to mind.
> 
>  That left him to do the work by himself.  The solution below was a
>  creation out of Bill's own brain......and as I've advised him, it 
>  must have come from some of the brilliance I've taught him over the
>  years.......hee hee.
> 
>  Nevertheless, I felt the idea he came up with was pretty nifty,
>  and that it ought to be shared with this reflector.  No doubt others
>  have thought of this over the years, and moreover we know our good
>  buddy N4AR has done considerable work by himself on his own numerous
>  towrs with big antennas:  I just haven't seen much written about
>  how to do this stuff by oneself.
> 
>  Read on, and any questions should be sent to:
> 
>                     Bill Snider, K6KM
>                     k6km@cncnet.com
> 
> 
>  73 & GL
>  Dale  K5MM
> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> ++ 
> >At 05:00 PM 4/29/98 K6KM wrote to K5MM
> >
> >At last!
> >
> >The 3 el 40 is completely on the ground, and the rotating
> >dipole is up in its place. I was too pooped to rig a balun and
> >feedline, then tune the dipole. Another day.
> >
> > A light bulb lit on Monday (regarding the 40 mtr beam on 
> > the Rohn 45 tower with 2 sets of guy wires) and here's what 
> > I did.
> >
> > I installed another guy bracket just one foot below the
> > top guy bracket on the Rohn 45 tower that has the 3-element 40
> > meter beam on it. I jury-rigged one (new) guy wire on the new 
> > bracket, on the side of the tower where the antenna boom would 
> > be lowered.
> >
> > Then I removed the original top guy, lowered the antenna  down 
> > to just above this new temporary temp guy, reinstalled the top 
> > guy and removed the tempotary guy.
> >
> > Then I lowered the antenna to the lower guy position of the tower, 
> > removed the lower guy, dropped the antenna a few feet and 
> > re-installed the original lower guy.
> >
> > This required a pulley up on the tower mast, of course; the rigging
> > took an hour or two but the lowering only took about 45 minutes.
> > The fortunate issue here is that it is 'do-able' by one non 
> > teenaged person.  {ed. note:  Bill celebrates 50 years of being
> > being legally on the air next year!!)
> >
> > I'm pooped and sore.
> >
> > 73 de Bill
> 
>  Not bad for an OF!!...k5mm
> 
> 
> --
> FAQ on WWW:               http://www.contesting.com/towertalkfaq.html
> Submissions:              towertalk@contesting.com
> Administrative requests:  towertalk-REQUEST@contesting.com
> Problems:                 owner-towertalk@contesting.com
> Search:                   http://www.contesting.com/km9p/search

--
FAQ on WWW:               http://www.contesting.com/towertalkfaq.html
Submissions:              towertalk@contesting.com
Administrative requests:  towertalk-REQUEST@contesting.com
Problems:                 owner-towertalk@contesting.com
Search:                   http://www.contesting.com/km9p/search

<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>