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A tower being born at the club houseDuring the winter 95/96 we made the decision that a new tower was to be erected at the club QTH. Since the move from our old house, all monobanders had been securely stored on the ground so that they would not be exposed to the harsh winds from the mountains etc. (...) We felt that we had to do something drastical in order to get back on our feet. The number of active members was obiously too low to get anything done in a relatively short time, and therefore we asked the other radio club sharing the QTH if they were interested in splitting the cost if we were to pay someone that would assemble and erect a new tower at the QTH. They said yes, and that's where it started. We called "Mr Tower" aka OH8QD/Jaakko and asked him if he could do it, and he accepted. This is what happened:
This is the man digging the holes for the guy wires. Pretty amazing how small modern excavators are...
This what OH8QD's car looked like. High density back seat. Eh, did I say SEAT?
The first antenna going up. 6 el for 15m. Unfortunately no photos were taken during the actual tower mounting.
Yahooo!! The first piece of aluminium is up there!
The antennas were tuned on their respective mounting height by utilizing OH8QD with a Bird Power Meter in the tower and a transmitter on the ground. This way of doing it has proved to be the most effective, according to OH8QD. (Who probably is one of the more experienced tower climbers in the world, with a total of around 160 towers assembled)
The antenna tuning Base Camp was managed by SM3EXO/Uno.
Some of the other guys involved in mounting antennas etc taking five...
After three days of hard work, the tower and the antennas were securely mounted and tuned.
The only detail left, was the rotator. Unfortunately, this day offered the worst weather with rain and wind. To prevent the tools from being lost in the dirt, we found a piece of wood to use as an extra floor. By a curious coincidence, the painting on it was almost right on target...
This is OH8QD struggling to adjust the gearwheel angle with the wind helping (?) him.
SM3VWZ/Lars, and SM3VDX/Len, watching the show.
OH8QD assembling the direction indicator.
The rotator is a pretty rugged construction.
So, this is what it looks like. Not bad, huh?...
The final evening we celebrated the event by having a superb dinner at the club house. Naturally we were all very interested in playing around with the new toy, so a temporary shack was set up in a shed next to the tower. (The feeders were not yet connected all the way to the regular shack)
And this is the gang who did it.
Maybe you remember how it all started? With the two clubs deciding that this should be a joint venture? Well, this is the handshake that completed the fastest tower assembly in town. SM3OJR/Jon, President of FRO (SL3ZV) and SM3SZW/Henry, President of JRA (SK3JR) in front of the masterpiece and pride of the club house. Now, this could have been the end of the story... But take a close look at that last picture again. See that thing at the very left? That's the second tower! If you can't see the antenna - well, don't call your optician. It is an old photo... Check this page out for the latest news on what's up there now! One thing is for sure - Cruise the bands and your beard won't grow long before you hear us! ;-) |
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This web site was last changed at 06 feb 2000 by SM3OJR |
