Tower & Antenna Project
April & May, 2019


I was a (mostly) active amateur "ham" radio operator from the summer of 1960 through January, 1997.  With great reluctance I decided to go inactive with the hobby because of major hearing losses.  Although I could still hear, my hearing was impaired to the point that copying weak signals using Morse code was marginal and because I was unable to fully understand the dialog in voice communications, regardless of signal strength.

Let's jump forward to September, 2018, nearly 22 years later - my hearing is worse!  I decided to take a road trip from our Tucson home to the eastern USA to do some sightseeing and to visit old friends in Virginia and South Carolina.  One of the friends I visited was Larry Vogt, N4VA, in Springfield, VA.  Larry and his husband Coleman treating me to great company and a magnificent dinner, then he gave me a demo of the new FT8 communications mode.  FT8 required an interface to a computer, which of course as a retired computer programmer anything which combined ham radio and computers appealed to me.  But I told Larry that I would be unable to operate using FT8 because of my hearing problem.  Larry reached out and turned the volume all the way down, then continued making contacts.  Wham!  It's like I was struck with lightning . . . I decided that as soon as I returned to Tucson I would start acquiring gear and reactivate my radio license, then work 99.99% FT8 (and later FT4).

AA4M became operational again on November 28, 2018 using an Icom IC-7300 transceiver and a dipole (wire, non-directional) antenna.  I made over 3,000 contacts over the next 5 months, but I could see that there were countries I'd never reach unless I put a directional antenna W-A-Y up in the air.  So early in 2019 I began learning all I could about contemporary beam antennas and towers.  Since I was now 74 years old, I decided to hire a specialist to do the installation, a decision I'm glad I made!  Ultimately I decided to buy a Mosley TA-54-XLT-6 antenna and a 2-year old US Towers TX-455 (55 foot) tower.  The installation would be done by Mike Addis of Addisigns, Inc. and I would be assembling the antenna myself.  Although Mike and his company are signage design and installation experts, they do a respectable amount of tower and antenna work.  Mike did a superb job and I can highly recommend him and his company for similar jobs.  Thanks to Dennis, N6ITY for recommending Addisigns!

Most US hams probably realize that communications from the western USA to Europe can be very difficult at times.  Because of this, with the dipole antenna and 100 watts I managed to contact an average of 1 European a week.  Once the new beam antenna was operational, while still running 100 watts, I contacted 9 Europeans during my first 45 minutes on the air . . . great fun!  :-)

The below 39 pictures represent the best of the 89 photographs I had taken . . . Enjoy!


(Click on picture to enlarge)

Click to see tp01Resized.jpg
This is the site where the tower will be installed.
Click to see tp02Resized.jpg
Clearing the site.
Click to see tp03Resized.jpg
There was a large pile of gravel which had to be moved before work could begin.

Click to see tp04Resized.jpg
Digging the hole.
Click to see tp05Resized.jpg
"Fine tuning" the hole.
Click to see tp06Resized.jpg
Done ~ the final hole measured 54"L x 54"W x 66"D.
Click to see tp07Resized.jpg
This is the dirt which was removed from the hole, about 5 cubic yards altogether!

Click to see tp08Resized.jpg
The rebar "cage".
Click to see tp09Resized.jpg Click to see tp10Resized.jpg
The cage and forms are now in place.
Click to see tp11Resized.jpg
The foundation hole has been prepared and is ready for the concrete pour.

Click to see tp12Resized.jpg
Here comes the concrete truck . . .
Click to see tp13Resized.jpg
. . . and here comes the concrete.
Click to see tp14Resized.jpg Click to see tp15Resized.jpg
Click to see tp16Resized.jpg Click to see tp17Resized.jpg
After curing, the foundation will be ready for the tower.
Click to see tp18Resized.jpg
These are all the parts needed to assemble my antenna!
Click to see tp19Resized.jpg
It took me a week of 2-hour work sessions, but that's only because I'm very careful to ensure that the assembly is perfect!

 
Click to see tp20Resized.jpg
Click to see tp21Resized.jpg Click to see tp22Resized.jpg
The antenna assembly is done, a total of 7 elements on a 21 foot boom.
Click to see tp23Resized.jpg
The coax has been attached to the dual driven elements.  Note that I've also made an RF choke and added 3 mix 31 ferrite "beads".

Click to see tp24Resized.jpg
The tower has arrived, along with the Addisigns crane.
Click to see tp25Resized.jpg
I can't believe that all of this machinery fit in our back yard!
Click to see tp26Resized.jpg
Up it goes . . .
Click to see tp27Resized.jpg Click to see tp28Resized.jpg
Oops, the mounting holes in the tower base don't line up correctly with the bolts in the foundation!

Click to see tp29Resized.jpg
That's no problem, we'll just move the hole!  :)
Click to see tp30Resized.jpg
Mike Addis is a happy tower installer!  :)
Click to see tp31Resized.jpg Click to see tp32Resized.jpg
Up goes the antenna.
Click to see tp33Resized.jpg Click to see tp34Resized.jpg
Done!
Click to see tp35Resized.jpg
The final installation photographed from the back yard at sunset.

Click to see tp36Resized.jpg
The tower and antenna as seen from the front of the house.
Click to see tp37Resized.jpg
This is my new digital rotator controller, a Hy-Gain DCU-3.
Click to see tp38Resized.jpg
Here's my full ham radio station.  Maybe some day I'll add a KW amplifier to the setup!  :)
Click to see tp39Resized.jpg
I purchased 2 high end CW paddles, only to discover that outside of contests there is not much CW activity - FT8 seems to be the most popular mode nowadays!
Click to see tp40Resized.jpg
Here's the rig a few months later.  I've sold the MFJ-969 tuner and one of the CW paddles, and I've moved the IC-7300 to a closet to use as a spare radio.  I now have an Icom IC-7610, an Acom 2100 amp, a Palstar HF-Auto antenna tuner, and I have kept the Bencher chrome paddle.  I am now also on FT4, an amazing mode which IMHO is vastly superior and more fun than FT8!



You may use any of the above pictures for any purpose and may do so without giving me credit.  Note that these pictures have been downsized for those with slow connection speeds.  If you'd like copies of the original JPG pictures, send me an E-mail telling me which pictures you want and I'll be happy to send the original pictures to you at no charge!


Go to your previous web page.

Go to Bill & Bonnie's photo album home page.

Send E-mail to Bill & Bonnie.