Lol, With my little one running around all day I often do my antenna work at
night because it's the only time I have though I'm not too fond of roofs. I
can say I know what can happen when you drop a 5 foot mast on the somewhat
soft lawn from 25 feet up though. It took me a while to find the foot or so
that was still sticking out above the ground and pull that one out. Next
time I put up my ground mounted vertical I'll have to remember that trick.
The only thing they ask where I live is you not make any noise outside after
I think 7 PM but usually it's like 8 when people quiet down so as long as I
can do antenna work quietly I do it at night.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Phil Scovell" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, September 25, 2014 8:09 PM
Subject: One good thing a blind ham can do
> Living in Omaha as a teenager, during the hot summer days, I used to have
> to
> wait until midnight for the roof to cool down because the shingles were
> just
> burning, even through your shoes, during the day. I had a little 3
> element
> TH3 Junior tri bander on an 8 foot tripod and a 5 foot mast so if I were
> lucky, the little beam was 28 feet off the ground. Trees in the yard were
> higher but that, I figured, was good for lightning protection, haha. I
> was
> using the A R22 rotor. I was doing something with the RG8 coax so I
> disconnected it from the beam after stepping up two step brackets of the
> tripod. I sat down on the still, quite warm, roof and began working on
> the
> connector. My coax snaked down over the edge of the roof, passed my
> mother's bedroom window, and down through a basement window into my shack.
> I learned my lesson that night to wrap the coax around my waist, or around
> one leg at least once, so the coax wouldn't get away from me. You know
> how
> heavy RG8 gets after 50 feet or 100 feet. Anyhow, the coax slipped from
> my
> hands and went sliding away down the roof and coiled in the grass between
> houses. No, I might be blind but I wasn't about to dive head first right
> after the sliding coax in case I did a header off the roof. I said, "Oh,
> shoot," or something like that, haha, because now I would have to find the
> ladder, climb down, hunt around for the coax in the grass, thread it back
> up
> to the roof, re-climb the ladder, and another hour would be lost. Before
> I
> could start my trek off the roof, I heard a side window slide up and my
> mother's voice from within the air conditioned house saying, "Philip! Is
> that you on the roof?" I sighed and said, "Yes, it is me, mom." "What
> are
> you doing at this time of night on the roof?" she wanted to know. "You
> are
> going to wake the neighbors. Still mad at myself for letting the coax
> slide
> away, I calmly said, "I'm trying to fix my coax." She insisted I get down
> and right now. She didn't care I was on the roof, I did it all the time,
> but she was trying to go to sleep so she could go to work the next day. I
> didn't tell her I had to climb down and climb back up again but I was much
> quieter the next time. So blind guys, if they are young enough and skinny
> enough, can work on their towers and antennas in the dark; at least I
> always
> did. Shoot, I remember climbing my 65 foot tower to fix a burned out
> relay
> on Christmas day here in Denver when it had just snowed the night before
> 25
> inches. Only time I ever used gloves climbing a tower but I took them off
> as I worked on the relay and coax feeding it and it was 3:30 PM and the
> son
> was behind the mountains. Fortunately there was no wind but it was 32
> degrees so I was careful, tempted maybe, but careful not to touch my
> tongue
> to the tower, smile. My kids were all pretty little so they played in the
> snow while old crazy dad was 65 feet in the air freezing his butt off.
> No,
> silly. I made them play a long way off from the base of the tower. It
> was
> a standing safety rule because I was always dropping at least one bolt.
> You
> know what a single bolt on the head can do to your skull from 65 feet?
>
> Phil.
> K0NX
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