Posted on 07/20/2016 6:55:03 PM PDT by Celerity
It looks like some broadcast licenses were pulled, but it's not clear that amateur/HAM licenses were included.
I have UHF & VHF rigs and HTs, but really prefer HF. Have not been that active because of caring for sick family members for over 10 years. Electronic workshop and bench is a mess. Have lots of test equipment but am currently distracted again remodeling 70 year old home at the farm. That is where my shack is and all our workshops.
When I get settled in there, I plan on taking it serious again. Nearest neighbor is 1/2 mile away, so interference will not be an issue.
I never tried for the Radar endorsement, had no need for it. But for that matter, I had no need for the GROL.
I understand about the climbing thing. I still carry a climbing belt in my pickup. Seldom use it any more. I’m 68 but am still able to do most of that stuff. We have an elevator leg that I service when necessary. It has a ladder and safety ring at top, but I always belt off when changing belts or motors.
My Ham buddies used me a lot for installations. I spent 2 weekends on a broadcast tower where the local Hams had a repeater. The tower was 1550 feet tall. Our receive antenna was at 1350 ft. We replaced the 7/8” heliax between the 650 foot platform and the 1350 foot mount for the antenna. That system has been moved. An ice storm almost brought down the tower a number of years ago and the TV station pulled all the non essential feedline. Not sure where the Hams moved their repeater to, I’m no longer living in OKC.
That’s quite a tower. My two most unsettling antenna jobs included a 40 ft antenna perched on the roof of a 5 story building in downtown San Diego and dangling in a basket suspended from a crane to replace a cubical quad at the Daley Corporation. The quad was on a rotor at 150 ft. One of the spreaders snapped from a wind gust. I lashed the boom to my masket before removing the U bolts. The crane operator was very good. He had worked some photo shoots on the set of “The Incredible Hulk”. It was almost like a hot air balloon ride. I’ll pass on scaling 1000+ ft towers.
I failed to state that the tower had an elevator of sort inside the structure. Chief engineer rode on top and 2 in bucket. But once at 650 ft level and 1350 ft level we worked up and down lashing the heliax. I did not scale the entire tower height. We practiced good safety as far as belting off.
We used the elevator with rope through pulley at top to pull the cable to the top. Had a great ground crew too. No injuries, but 2 weekends of hard work. Was a memorable experience. I even have photo’s from the tower. Incredible view.
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