Let's see...War stories...
The stories over the years.
Learning to use climbers on those old, "should have been retired long ago"
poles that were like a porcupine with the quills all pointed UP abd received
at least half their suppor from the wires they were supposed to be
supporting.
Installing TV antennas as a sideline. Of course if it was easy every one
would have installed their own and they did. We got the two and three story
homes with very steep roofs. I saw one guy start to slide. He was digging
his toes and fingers in but to no avail. He stopped with his feet in the
eves trough and a long way down. I tossed him a rope, anchored it to the
chimney and he carefully climbed back up. Typical eves trough. A good
sneeze would have probably busted it loose.
Listening to the guys on the ground commenting while I was working *under*
the support arm for a side mounted antenna, by standing with my feet against
the side of the tower supported by two tag lines and a very heavy pole strap
(I was horizontal under the arm but hooked to the tower) I remember even
from that height of near 200 feet distinctly hearing one comment "I gotta go
home. I can't watch this!". Actually it was quite secure, but I can imagine
what it looked like from the ground.
Or the time I was helping a friend who had lost his entire tower and antenna
system in a bad winter storm mearly 20 years ago. It broke the buys and
bent the tower right over the end of the 2 1/2 story house. The tower was
bracketed to the house at near 30 feet. I was up on the tower on the end of
the house near the peak of the roof. We had decided to cut the section just
above the roof, where it was kinked more than 90 degrees.
Things were going real well, I cut the secion off and the remnants slid off
the roof in the other direction. I turned around to say something to those
on the ground when suddenly things didn't feel just right. Out of instinct
my left arm went around behind me and grabbed. I caught an eye bolt in the
roof. As I turned around I discovered the top of the remaining sections had
moved out from the edge of the roof by over a foot. The lag bolts had come
right out of the plate on the end of the house. They had looked good and
felt secure (by hand), but were aparently wedged in place. That tower was
headed over and would have, had my hand not been in the right place at the
right time. Three inches either way and I'd have missed the anchor.
BTW, under the three feet of snow at the bottom, only the hinge bolts were
holding the tower.
Wind: I had been up on the repeater tower up west for a good hour when the
wind suddenly increased. (There was no forecast of high winds) As was
mentioned, the rope and tag lines were standing straight out. Before I
could get past the guy attachment plate down at 125 feet the wind was
bouncing me against the tower. I moved around to the other side to put my
back to the wind.
It was nearly an hour before the wind began to slack off a bit. I noticed
it was starting to gust at fairly regular intervals so I unhooked everything
except one tag line. The next time the wind eased off I unhooked, dropped
past the band around the tower and slammed the tag line hook back in place.
Then the wind came back up again.
With all the climbing I never did get hurt, but I think I turned about three
HTs into spare parts. I distinctly remember one that landed in soft dirt. It
still looked like someone had set off an M-80 in it with parts scattered
over a 10 to 15 foot circle. OYOH they just don't build them like they used
to.
Roger Halstead (K8RI, EN73 & ARRL Life Member)
N833R, World's Oldest Debonair (S# CD-2)
www.rogerhalstead.com
_______________________________________________
See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless Weather
Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any questions
and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
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