VOGuy

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Post by voguy » 09-30-2011 06:37 PM

He still has a decent antenna for ham, 80/40 meters. I think our TV project will turn out well and give some results.

I'm still waiting for our tower crew to show up, (they've missed the date four times now). Hopefully next week works.

I'm ready to get this project completed and move on to the next challenge.
"I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them." - Thomas Jefferson

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Post by voguy » 09-30-2011 06:47 PM

Just to demonstrate my odd mind, I carted back an obsolete nitrogen tank, about 5' high and 12" round. Anyone know what I'm going to make out of it? :D

And, no, nothing explosive.
"I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them." - Thomas Jefferson

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Post by Fan » 09-30-2011 06:56 PM

voguy wrote: Just to demonstrate my odd mind, I carted back an obsolete nitrogen tank, about 5' high and 12" round. Anyone know what I'm going to make out of it? :D

And, no, nothing explosive.



oooh oooh a beer cooler? A big potato gun? A very small submarine?

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Post by voguy » 10-01-2011 09:50 AM

HA! But imagine how far you could shoot a potato with that much volume.

You cut off the bottom of the tank, and replace the air fitting at the top with a hook. Polish the metal up, and then powder coat it black to keep from rusting. And you have a temple bell.

The more you shave off the bottom, the more the pitch goes up, so you can tune it to some extent. It's somewhat close to a church bell. It occupies only 18" of horizontal space, so it can be a cool decoration in the back yard.

See this link

Sounds can be heard here.

The best ringing is achieved if you know someone at a machine shop who can smooth the surface, which keeps the vibration consistent.

I'm thinking that a group of these, tuned properly, and mechanized with a clock, would be an awesome clock tower.
"I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them." - Thomas Jefferson

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Post by voguy » 10-07-2011 07:11 PM

This is how I spent my day. This was shot last night, and the tower you see to the left of the sunset is the tower we're working on. It's 1,300 feet to the tip.

The antenna on top is the one we're replacing. To do this, a "gin pole" is taken up the tower in sections, and assembled just below the antennas. Note the two workers hanging off the gin about 2/3rds the way up. The gin is on a track, and can slide vertically to where it needs to go to "pick" or pickup a load. It's moved up by adding track on the top, and as soon as it's moved up, track is taken from the bottom and bolted to the tower on the top.

As soon as the gin pole is at least up high enough to attach to the 1/3rd and 2/3rd point on the antenna, we can pick it up. A 800# weight is also added to the bottom of the antenna to keep the antenna from wanting to slide sideways. Since the antenna is 11,000 pounds, anything it hits could cause a massive collapse.

When the gin is in place, and before the antenna is pulled, a group of workers will go up for inspection, while the riggers come down from their work.

Here is what the inside of the antenna looks like. It's comprised of tuned chambers and elements.

Tomorrow (Saturday) we pull off the old antenna and put on the new one. Sunday the transmission line connections will be made, and it's ready to go on the air.

For those into cameras, these were shot with a Canon Rebel EOS, and the long shots used a Sigma 400mm adjustable lens
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Post by Diogenes » 10-07-2011 09:03 PM

The riggers and inspectors - got to be tough to do that I think.
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Post by megman » 10-07-2011 11:48 PM

voguy wrote: Just to demonstrate my odd mind, I carted back an obsolete nitrogen tank, about 5' high and 12" round. Anyone know what I'm going to make out of it? :D

And, no, nothing explosive.


We've done this with SCUBA tanks that were not up to snuff......
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Post by Dale O Sea » 10-08-2011 06:25 AM

voguy wrote: This is how I spent my day. This was shot last night, and the tower you see to the left of the sunset is the tower we're working on. It's 1,300 feet to the tip.

The antenna on top is the one we're replacing. To do this, a "gin pole" is taken up the tower in sections, and assembled just below the antennas. Note the two workers hanging off the gin about 2/3rds the way up. The gin is on a track, and can slide vertically to where it needs to go to "pick" or pickup a load. It's moved up by adding track on the top, and as soon as it's moved up, track is taken from the bottom and bolted to the tower on the top.

As soon as the gin pole is at least up high enough to attach to the 1/3rd and 2/3rd point on the antenna, we can pick it up. A 800# weight is also added to the bottom of the antenna to keep the antenna from wanting to slide sideways. Since the antenna is 11,000 pounds, anything it hits could cause a massive collapse.

When the gin is in place, and before the antenna is pulled, a group of workers will go up for inspection, while the riggers come down from their work.

Here is what the inside of the antenna looks like. It's comprised of tuned chambers and elements.

Tomorrow (Saturday) we pull off the old antenna and put on the new one. Sunday the transmission line connections will be made, and it's ready to go on the air.

For those into cameras, these were shot with a Canon Rebel EOS, and the long shots used a Sigma 400mm adjustable lens
Thanks for this interesting post. So much for antennas just being a wire, heh. There's a lot more going on here.. Nice pics. :cool:

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Post by cns » 10-08-2011 06:17 PM

Great pics VOGuy!
What an incredible project!
I realize it is common place to some people, but I have never know just what was involved in replacing or putting up an antenna of this type.
Awesome!


Your nitrogen tank project looks interesting too. Better for those with vertigo. heh
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Post by voguy » 10-08-2011 09:35 PM

We got the old antenna down, and the new one up today. All day, we fought with 15 mph winds, which caused the antenna to dance around a bit. We worked from 6:15AM this morning to 7PM tonight.

When the 32 year old antenna came down, it was in remarkably good shape. The lightning rods at the top showed all sorts of evidence of Zeus tossing bolts at the antenna.

Tomorrow we clean up loose ends by connecting the antenna to the line, checking the lighting system, and running tests through the line and antenna. If all goes right, we'll put some power to this puppy tomorrow afternoon.

Here are a few photos....

Old antenna coming down.

Antenna now on the ground.

Proof of a visit from Zeus.

Nothing like burn up metal to prove the point.

The new antenna is picked off the ground, and is on it's way up.

When the antenna arrives at the top, we have to turn it around and then set the 11,000 pounds of antenna down in position. Once the antenna is set, and bolts put in the base, we're ready for the next step.
"I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them." - Thomas Jefferson

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Post by Diogenes » 10-08-2011 09:47 PM

Amazing - just so interesting.

Thank you for walking us thru the entire project.
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Post by Dale O Sea » 10-09-2011 09:09 AM


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Post by Fan » 10-09-2011 09:18 AM

great pix voguy! Love that melted steel :)

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Post by Diogenes » 10-09-2011 11:53 AM

Dale O Sea wrote: And they say radio is dead. :rolleyes:


Just curious- I have three CC radios and now listen streaming from either my IPad or MAC - just wondering how many folks listen via an actual radio anymore.

My radio is on all night and live on a hill so typically I had that fading in and out during the night. I would put the radio on a vanity stool by the bed and the stool rotated so when the fading came in I would reach down and turn the stool another way. I even bought the antennae from Crane for my radios and that didn't work.
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Post by cns » 10-10-2011 06:32 AM

Great pics!
Thanks
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