TO: ALL WOOD COUNTY EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS AMATEURS
ALL NON-WOOD COUNTY EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS AMATERUS
FROM: KEN HARRIS WA8LLM
WOOD COUNTY EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS INCORPORATED
WOOD COUNTY BULLETIN NR 11.14 DATE: April 3, 2011
SUBJECT: IT MAY HAVE TO COME DOWN
When you put up a tower do you plan for the day that it may have to be taken back down?
I've installed many towers since becoming an Amateur Radio operator, and each time I put one up, I try to plan for the day that it may have to come back down. There are several things that you can do that will make taking it back down a whole lot easier.
When installing the tower, rustproof the bolts with a good quality rust inhibitor. Attach the guy wires above the top step of the lower tower section, not the bottom step of the upper section.
Run transmission lines on the tower so they are out of the way and easy to secure to the tower, don't run transmission line down the inside of the tower.
Attach each antenna to the tower using it's own mounting bracket and hardware so if you have to take down, or work on just one antenna, you down have to worry about any other one.
Make taking a tower down a whole lot easier and safer than putting it up.
Ken Harris WA8LLM
WCEC
Wood County WV