N3ZK Tower & Ham Shack Project 2007
In the spring/summer of 2007, I will be putting up a 40 foot Rohn 25 tower. On top of the tower will be a Mosley Mini-32A tri-bander, my weather station (to be relocated from current location to the tower, and my lightning detector. Paul, N0VLR and I dug out the hole for the concrete base.
6/16/2007 Paul, N0VLR and I poured the concrete for the tower base. Just over a yard of concrete. The driver was kind enough to hang out for awhile while Paul and I moved the concrete from the truck to the hole in wheel barrels. Once the concrete was poured, we set the anchor bolts into the concrete using the base plate as a guide.
On the tower sections, I cleaned them up, sprayed cold galvanizing spray on them. I finished them up with aluminum spray as the finishing touch. Now we wait until it is cured.
6/20/2007 My next door neighbor Jeff, helped me hand the 2nd section of tower. YEH~~!
7/22/2007 After deciding to go from 30' to 40', I went and got another tower section, cleaned it up and painted it. Now we are ready to go even higher than the original plan.
7/24/2007 After deciding to go from 30' to 40', I went and got another tower section. Brian, KB3ORR came over to help me lift section number 3 up. Boy was this fun. It didn't take very long. My daughter helped me get parts and tools to the roof. Next up, I will install the newly arrived house bracket. The house bracket I purchased at Dayton this year was too small. So I shipped it back for an upgrade.
7/29/2007 On Sunday, with the help from my daughter getting the tools, bracket etc.. up the tower, I lifted up the house bracket in place and marked the holes for drilling. I drilled 2 5/8 inch holes through the outside of the house. I cut a 70 inch 2x4, drilled the 2 5/8 inch holes in the appropriate places, and then straddled the 2x4 across 5 exterior wall studs for maximum distribution of weight. I tightened all of the bolts and marked them with paint to ensure no of them move. If they do, i will know after my inspections of the tower for safety. Next step, 40 foot....
8/1/2007 This evening, I tested the rotor and control, everything worked great. My 2 neighbors Jeff, Stacey and her boyfriend came over to help get to the top. With the kids busy playing on the swing set, we were ready to go. It took a little over an hour to set up, Check for safety, hoist up the tools and gin poll, raise the tower and set it in place. Boy, what a rush. Finally, up 40 feet!!
8/3/2007 This evening, my wife Stephanie helped me with the relocation and installation of the Weather Station. Took me about an hour or so to install everything. Everything worked great!! Next step, hopefully the antenna.
8/5/2007 Nice Rain Storm this evening. Rain Gauge worked, as well as the wind gauge!! Perfect. Tower Didn't move an inch. Even in the driving rain and wind.
7/25/2007 With help from Paul, N0VLR the Ham Shack is under construction. Unfortunately, I forgot to take some "Before" pictures, but I can tell you it was in bad shape. The previous owner installed a drop ceiling, poorly installed floor, and so on. I completely removed the ceiling, installed a new sub-ceiling complete with drywall, new insulation, recessed lighting, new laminate flooring, new paint, new molding all around and so on. As of 8/30/2007, it is in move in condition. I will be priming and painting the door and door jamb in the next day or so. I plan to move in to the NEW Ham Shack by Saturday afternoon. Nest on the agenda, run all of the new cabling up the tower. I need to run coax, Cat 5 for the Lightning Protector and Rotor Cable. I need to run a new ground wire to the outside for the shack as well. ALL MOST DONE. I can't wait to get done as the bands have been very good, so I am told, and Contesting season is starting. See pictures below.
9/2/2007 Jim, WO3Z came over to help me finish building the Mosley Mini-32A antenna. I didn't have tim saturday night to build the jumper coax for the top, so I built this now. 3 hours later, we were ready to hoist the antenna up the tower and into position. Jim raised the Gin Pole into position and I prepared the antenna to be raised. Once Jim was ready, I began to lift the antenna while my daughter held the tether in place. Within about 10 minutes, the antenna was up to the top, and positioned in place for Jim to attach it to the mast. Jim positioned the antenna to face north and we were done!! Later in the evening, Stephanie, my wife, came home and we were ready to start hauling up the coax, rotor cable and a ground (for my other various equipment going on the tower). Once at the top, I connected everything and started climbing down, one rung at a time strapping the cables to tower. When I reached the bottom, it was time to test the rotor again. Perfect it worked. Jeff, my next door neighbor came over and helped me get the coax and rotor cable into the house and up to my shack. A little soldering to finish the coax and we were ready for a QSO. On Monday morning, I made several test QSO's with my good friend Ted Huff, who recently moved to Florida. The beam works great. My first DX QSO on the BEAM was with VP5/W1AI. He gave me 59 plus 20!! Sounds like the beam is in working order.
Thank you to all who helped me make this project go from a dream to a realization!!
Click HERE for Pictures!!
