Raising the 72 Foot Vertical Antenna Mast at W5JGV - by myself!
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- čas přidán 29. 08. 2024
- This is how I managed to raise my 72 foot tall vertical antenna by myself. The entire antenna and guy lines weighs about 110 pounds. It sits on a hinged support which is mounted on a base insulator. The antenna is guyed in 4 directions in a square pattern. The antenna was laid out flat on the ground pointing at the West guy anchor. The guy lines for the North and South sides were stretched out from the antenna and fastened to their respective anchor points. The guy lines to the West anchor point were attached to the anchor point, but the lines were laying loose on the ground. As the antenna was raised, these lines were pulled tight and held the antenna upright. The guy lines that would eventually be attached to the East anchor point were attached to the top end of a 32 foot extension ladder which was set upright and at right angles to the antenna when it is laying on the ground. The ladder was be raised into position by using a 16 foot 2 x 4. A small tractor was used to do the pulling for this project. Everything was calculated out beforehand, and I knew the magnitude and direction of the forces involved during the lift. I had myself positioned during the lift so that I could see the antenna and was well away from where it might fall should it happen to fall while it was being erected. The entire operation went uneventfully, and took only about three minutes longer than the length of this video.
Stupendous. I’m always amazed by people’s ingenuity and resourcefulness. If this were me, I’d get this raised only with divine intervention - and then realize I forgot to put the antenna on it.
Great work!
12 years later and still a great video!
As a welder, I use to make 50' swab pole masts for the gas company out of 7" OD pipe, weighing 17 or 23# to the foot. I always welded a tee about 5' long to the bottom instead of any kind of hinge secured to concrete. The pole had rebar steps welded all the way to the top for a man to climb. Drive two steel deadman stakes in the ground at the ends of the tee to keep the pole from sliding toward you when pulling it up with a front bumper mounted winch. Have your 4 guy wires already attached to the top of the pole with the two farthest away cut to 75 ft length = 45 degree guy wire to ground and firmly staked in place permanently to their anchors. Attach the other 2 guy wires only at the top of pole, leaving them about 85 ft. long. Attach a 5th line used for raising the pole only about 10 ft. down from the top of the pole. Raise pole with vehicle winch until back two guy wires are tight. Now secure the remaining two guy wires to their deadman posts, tree trunks or whatever. If pole needs leveling for true vertical, pull the BASE of the pole wherever it needs to be. adjust tension about equally on all 4 guy wires. Now climb the pole and remove the raising line. Use a good safety climbing belt or harness. Install antenna or whatever on top to the pre installed brackets you fabricated for whatever application you need. I recommend stainless aircraft cable or galvanized for long term corrosion safeguard and 16 clamps minimum for the 4 guy wire ends. I done 105 of these one summer . No sweat. These were super heavy duty but for ham or CB radio a 4" pole should work well.
Well done sir!! Thanks for making the extra effort to record this and post it for others! It will be appreciated for years!
Good planning negates unwanted drama, I like that. Great job! Thanks for the video.
Agreed.
I was a might surprised the ladder could withstand the load. Great Job, you are one of the few videos out here that taught me something new!!!
I did a lot of calculations to determine what the compressive forces would be on the ladder. As it turns out, the maximum force occurs when the mast is horizontal and just starts to lift off the ground. As the tower shifts towards vertical, the forces on the ladder decrease until they reach zero when the mast is in the vertical position. So, if things don't break at the beginning of the lifting process, there is little to no chance of a structural collapse from then on. Simple math and good planning makes for a good day!
@@spectrotekservices Nice... I did no math but figured maximum force would be from 30 -- 45°s. (In my head, considered wind contributing to this force with this cross section in elevation being the most likely to suffer at the hands of the wind. As the wind would allow lift and drop, the drop would increase the most destructive force added with the pressure you considered.) Anyway, success!!!
@@terryglenweaver Considering the wind - the first rule of tower erection is to wait for a day with little or no wind. Which i did. And see those tall pine trees in the video? They surround the antenna field on three sides, and since they rise to almost 90 feet, they do a fine job of blocking any wind from all but the southwest. So no problems there.
@@spectrotekservices Sometimes wind can be at different levels. Because i watched this on my phone it is hard to see if the trees are moving or not. Good that you took that in consideration. Usually the day of erection was selected in advance and the contingency of wind was unavailable except when heavy to severe. Light and moderate is usually where these deceptive winds lurk. No matter... As y'all did a splendid job. Cheers.
@@spectrotekservices Simple math? It doesn't look simple to me. What would the compressive forces be on that ladder? Considering how far it's extended, I would have been very nervous. I'm guessing that's a 300lb ladder at best, but the actual box sections that make up the sides would be more. Still I think the weak part would be where the 2 sections join. I guess you're a structural engineer or something. I also wonder what kind of load would be on the pull lines.
I do agree that the max force would be at the beginning, but to me that's just common sense.
Thank you Ralph, my dear sir I enjoyed your video very much. I have put up and taken down quite a few antenna masts especially during my army days. I do not think that I would like to carry out the same thing now in my advancing days. You had obviously done your homework of line lengths/ gin poles etc. Back in the late 60's I was the youngest member of 9M2RH, so I was given the pleasure of abseiling down from a chopper above the Cubical Quad antenna to give it the final tune-up with my 2 foot long trimmer tool. It worked a treat. I often wander what that would have cost in civilian life, i.e for the use of the A/Craft alone. These days Health and Safety would have a field day if that was done in the U.K. I hope you are getting a great deal of pleasure out of use on the antenna. Well done. 73 de John - G0WXU.
Smart guy, whoever did the engineering of the lift. A+
'Twas I, I must admit. Just simple trigonometry calculations on the back of a napkin. I did use a calculator and some data tables to be sure things would stay together during the lifting process.
One problem was to make sure the guy lines placed the right amount of tension on the mast along its length so as not to let it bend enough to cause the joints to weaken or outright fail during the lift. Since the mast is 6 inches in diameter, it did not have much tendency to want to buckle under stress. I did not want to damage it during the lift, because joint damage at that during the lift might weaken the mast enough to cause it to fail during a storm.
Nothing like the satisfaction that comes from a well-planned job that turns out very well. Makes your heart pound a little bit, but it's worth it. Thanks for sharing the video.
All I can say is WOW that was amazing great job and it looks great as well. 73's
That was a well calculated approach to raising a tall mast! Good job and 73's!
Very impressive , I remember days when aluminium used to fall on me !
These days I use Spiderbeam poles ( 40ft, 60 and 85ft).
They are telescoping fiberglass, easy to erect for one person - no machinery.
Well done. Obviously a lot of planning/calculating went into the process. You made it look easy. Regards from Nebraska. N2AO.
Love the celebration at 10:26 WI4ND
Good job. I have to say i was thinking almost the same thing to raise my future antenna. Im glad i found your video. It gave me several good ideas. Great job.
Post a video of your antenna when you put it up. We'll all enjoy it!
Well that was a hell of a thing! lol Nicely done thanks for posting
The Egyptians would be proud.
Excellent level of work. I read about a similar project in an old CQ magazine, might have been 1940s or 50s. If I remember right he had one auxiliary mast and did the whole pull in one stage. He used a Jeep, I think. In some ways, what you have done is even more impressive.
Oh man that tractor must have a Granny Granny Granny gear x3 super low crawler gear in dayer! 😎
You must be an engineer! Phenomenal!!
Very nice video, and thank you for sharing.
HELL of a nice job; very impressive! Congrats & 73's.
very impressive, thats a fine bit of engineering.
You're a genius!
Amazing Job !!!
I learned to work alone 80-90% of the time, planning, planning, planning!
Somehow I feel rather sad for the 18 “people” who appear to have found this fantastic video less than inspiring ! Congratulations on a job well ☘️
Nice job, well thought out and calculated. I have a chance to get a free 75' tower on craigslist and was trying to figure a way to take it down. Maybe I can reverse what you've done here.
Nice job...
Amazing is all I can say!!
that was great! self sufficient.
That was pretty slick!
Very nicely done..
wow that was really something to watch.i am studyng my technicians book and will take my test in less than 2 weeks-i thought that was difficult.BRAVO.
ill be on 2meters for a while but someday i hope to have a qso w/ you sir.
73,dj
That was fantastic!
Smart man!
impressive
well done
WB5MZO
Well done!
Nice job!!!!!
good !!, GOOD IDEA, VERY SIMPLE...TKS.
that was slick!!!!! hope you remembered to put the antenna on top , I thought forsure something was going to go wrong ,
The mast IS the antenna.
It is driven at the base, and sits on an insulator. It has an extensive ground system to make it work properly.
ahhhh - well that was very creative ,thanks for video and reply
Genius!!!!!!
Some people wonder how I built a two story house by myself. It just takes brains and ingenuity.
Double gin poles, very nicely done. If it ever has to come down, it's just the reverse process.
Yep; I saved all the lumber and stuff I made for the installation, so I can reverse the process should the antenna need to be lowered.
Just a great job. Really enjoyed watching that. And most importantly shows the world what we HAMS are all about! We get the job done. Thanks for taking the time to make this to share with us during what was obviously a hectic 30 minutes or so! BTW, how has it been performing?
73 KB3VEW
Ron
Wow,, nice job. I was wondering as the lift was in progress how close those power lines were. Camera angles are deceiving.
Great Engineering! I hear your 476.3KHz beacon regularly in EN90xn, sometimes +20db above the noise. 73 de wa3tts
Did the pole fall into a hole at the end to hold in place when there was a loud noise from the ladder?
This looks like something from A Rigid Mechanics final.
Hope you make a video using the on air test to see how it is working and maybe compare it to a dipole etc.
well thought out
Was this the Coyote's idea or the road Runners?
Impressive. I have a question. It works well for raising and lowering an existing mast, but did you need help the first time to get the guys the correct length? Or was this the first time putting it up? If so, how did you get the guys so close to perfect on the maiden voyage? Tom K1TA
Pythagorean theorem
genius!
last time I did a big project like that left off something stupid like connecting the coax.
Is this to hold a wire antenna or is it the antenna? If it were me for wire id shoot an arrow with fishing line over those pine trees and then pull my wire up. I have 75M, 40M and 30M wire up 60-70ft between the pine trees here. The 30M is a full wave loop. =]
WW5RM
I used a landcruiser with a big winch.
Good show Ralph. Curious minds might just revisit some old science because of this video. :) @ 9:10, there is a pop sound. Any idea what that was? By any chance, was that an Onan powered Tractor? :)
Nice job. I want to learn how to put my own design 7 metre (23 ft) masts in the air when out in the field.
Very nice pole there.
Can I ask though would it attract any Lightning at all though?
And did you need any kind of permission to put it up?
You must have been around sailboats at some point in your life!
What was that last statement? "Piece of cake"?? This was no piece of cake. The planning leading up to erection day-I'm talking about the antenna not the Japanese voting booth-was ne plus ultra. A lot of tedious hours spent measuring, cutting and securing support wires. Piece of cake would've been if I did it. Ten minutes planning, then tie a rope to the back of that van & throw it in low, end up skewering that van into the ground like a shish kabob. I'd turn that whole project into a Lucy sketch so fast yer head would spin, piece a cake.
MEN TOYS ARE COOL! LIKE YOUR VIDEO!!!!!
I was waitin for it to come over and wack the van :-)
Mike
WE0H
/16
Is the tuner your design or is it one that you can buy? The reason I'm asking is that I am retiring and finally have time to devote to my ham hobby after being one for 15 years. I want to get a good antenna but I would rather not be putting up $4000 towers and $2000 beams. I have the radio's and a good manual tuner I'm looking for a good all-round easy-to-mount antenna that won't force me to have to go back to work. 73's, K0CCP
Where did you come up with the plan? (16' 2x4; 35' ladder; 3:1 ratio, etc)
How was the tower hinged at the base?
What did the pulleys look like?
You can see part of the assembly process on my web site: w5jgv.com/70_ft_vertical_antenna/index.htm
Nice c band mesh dish
How do you figure the load on the raising rope or cable?
2 dozen donuts and you could of had the whole club over to help.
Look's to me, he's got it under control.
Thats why "almost" all our jobs went to China!
Remember I said "almost"
Pretty sweet, but isn't it a little close to those power lines?
I was watching this thinking, I wonder if the ladder would make a good crankup tower?
Is that for 160 or 80 meters or can you use it on 10 thru 160 with a tuner?
I wish someone would make a homebrew tall vertical like this that worked like
the Steppir vertical with a motor to run a copper strip up the middle inside to tune it.
The antenna was designed to work on 500 KHz band as part of the ARRL experimental 600 Meter project. The antenna matching system allows for operation on 160 through 20 meters. Since the antenna mast is a continuous metal tube, anything inside the mast will have no effect on the antenna tuning. All tuning is done by inserting various matching networks (there is one network for each band, selected by using relays) at the base of the antenna mast.
Very nice. Maybe hear you on 20 meters with it and 160.
lovely work there. I've spent a good portion on the roof puting up a mast and even the smallest amount of breeze makes things wobbly. I had to be happy with it up significantly less than fully extended but I'd prefer to be safe than extra height.
On your own is quite the accomplishment.
vk2mrx
I bet WCCO 830kc has a wicked strong signal at night ;-)
No one asked the obvious question, how does it work and what bands and what kind of tuner do you use?
72 feet? I see power lines in the foreground that look closer than 72 feet at 2:55. If this goes down will it clear those lines?
Camera foreshortening of the distance. The power lines were more than 125 feet from the tower base, and the mast is only 72 feet.
Impressive Ralph! Even the filming was obviously done by yourself ;-) 73s de Wim ON4AEM
Nice work by why not assemble it 1 vertical section at a time all the way up? You afraid of heights?
It's not a regular tower, it is several lengths of aluminum tube. So it does not interlock or fit together like a regular tower. I had to lay the sections end to end on the ground and fit splice plates across the joint. You can see part of the assembly process on my web site: w5jgv.com/70_ft_vertical_antenna/index.htm
Pure genius !
Excellent and ballsey...
K7DGI
Gave me some ideas to get myself into trouble. Hahaha
N1XFV
all I can think from the start super dave osborne
This solar cycle is going down as the worst ever. I don't think you
could even give away a 10-X number.
This is why you should've done your math homework kids, 'specially Trig!
After all that, why not have placed a nice X-510 or equiv on top?
I tried this with 90' of Rohn45...
The neighbor's house is almost ready for them to move back in... LOL!
What are you doing next weekend????? Hi hi
very smart!!! 73 to ya!!! KF5UEM
You should probably be building rockets somewhere...
just curious are those electrical wires above or antenna wires ? lol
72 FEET
Bravo!!!! - kd8zrl
Nice job ! But I noticed you weren't wearing your hard hat ! Safety First !! : )
Rule #1. Never work on a mast by yourself. No hardhat?
all that fluffing about, just push it up .
Nope - it's one long length of pipe, so it has to tilt up all in one length.
Gave me some ideas to get myself into trouble. Hahaha
N1XFV