I used one of those many, many, years ago. I was first licensed in 1961 and
that was one of the first supports I used.
It was up for several months when we had one whale of a wind storm. (We
lived right out in the open flat land farming country) Even with the noise
of the wind I thought I could hear something making a tone. The upper part
of the structure was vibrating. with the wind. I had just turned away when
I heard a tremendous "bang!". When I looked back the structure was gone.
The biggest piece was less than three feet long.
Wood is very strong. I've seen airplanes built out of the stuff. I've ridden
in airplanes that were built out of the stuff and it wasn't straight and
level flying either.
Talk about strange...I'm scanning in the "old family slides" and stuff I've
shot over the years. The first two I picked up after typing the above were
of that airplane and that flight. I had no idea they were in that box.
At any rate it can be very flexible and that allows it to develop
resonances. Usually the taper in the structure avoids that, but not always.
> TT:
>
> At the age of 13, too, I used the same 2x4 mast, set in about a
half-cuft of concrete (I said
Me? I was an "old" guy. I was 21, single, going to school, and doing some
farming. I was living the good life. Quit farming, got a good paying job,
bought a Bonneville convertible... I was having fun. My mother figured she
was going to have an old bachelor on her hands...but that is another story.
Besides, I did get married later that year and one of my first projects was
to get the Ham station set up in the new house and I used a steel tower
there.
Roger Halstead (K8RI, EN73 & ARRL Life Member)
N833R, World's Oldest Debonair (S# CD-2)
www.rogerhalstead.com
I was 13!)and guyed to the back yard fence. A half-inch carriage bolt
served as a pivot for lowering the thing for antenna servicing - usually
putting the hoisting lines back onto the pulleys. It also supported my
first dipole array - a spider web of 80/40/20M dipoles fed off one feedline.
The far end of the 80M wires draped over the roof of my parents' two-story
frame house. The wires literally rested on the shingles!
>
> Point is that these lumber-based antenna supports work when properly
constructed. Keep in mind the early antenna support towers were made from
wood - Marconi's and Armstrong's structures are first to come to mind.
>
> 73 de
> Gene Smar AD3F
> > In 1959 when I was innocent and a new ham (13 years old and broke), I
> > constructed the mast that was in the handbook. Made out of 2x4's and
> > carriage bolts. I used it for one end of a dipole. Worked good and I
> > still have a picture of it. If memory serves me, my neighbor (now K5RC)
> > also used it as a support for his dipole.
> >
> > At 05:34 PM 2/24/04 -0700, DeVinneys wrote:
> > >I remember an ARRL antenna book about 30 years ago had plans for a
wooden
> > >tower made out of 1X2's. I never tried it because the 1X2's we get in
AZ and
> > >NM would make it look like a corkscrew. Think I'll wait a few years on
the
> > >poly tower to see how it holds up to sunlight!KA5W
> >
> > Jack Hartley
> > K4WSB
> > ARRL - QCWA - OOTC
> > DXCC Honor Roll
> > http://www.ultimatehat.com
> > 10% discount to fellow Hams
> > Put your call on the order
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> >
> > 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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> > TowerTalk@contesting.com
> > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
> _______________________________________________
>
> 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.
>
> _______________________________________________
> TowerTalk mailing list
> TowerTalk@contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
>
_______________________________________________
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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