Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader????

IF you are, then it's time to think about:

Transmitting antennas and towers for Senior Members of our Hobby…

Just wanted to get your attention. I have been trying to figure out what to do for the next 20 years or so to will keep my towers and antennas up and running well into the time I am using a walker and not even remembering that I could climb a tower…let alone work on the antennas at the top!

I am a 70 year old DXer and an old climber.  I've been hamming for 50 years, have had dipoles, Quads, delta loops, long wires, small towers, large towers, a three tower Big antenna farm, and a variety of large, long ,complicated wiring groups for the low bands. The key word is HAD…. I have recently moved to another acreage, sold the towers, lowered the wires and started planning for the next 20 years.

The reason for this article is that a lot of us fit into my description. I am sure all of us want to continue hamming for the duration.  How do you do that??? Lots of my contemporaries have stuff in the air that now doesn’t work, can’t find any climbers and are sitting there a bit frustrated. Think of what that will be like in another 10 or 20 years…. NOT THE BEST THINGS TO THINK ABOUT!

So, after this move, I started planning low maintenance, easy to work on antennas and towers.

Having looked at all the verticals available and finally figuring out that they are all basically the same, what is a ¼ wave up has ¼ wave radials at the base? Every true vertical that is made.

So what to do? Make one? Buy one? Which one?? My choices came down to two. The SteppIR Big IR, 40 meters to 10, or the Hy- Gain Hy-Tower, with the same coverage plus 80 meters.

The SteppIR Big IR is an awesome antenna. It is versatile, has a small foot print and is easily handled by one person.

I picked the Hy-Tower for the following reasons: First of all, I have wanted one of them for 40 years.  Second, the design has withstood the test of time and it’s a pretty antenna.

(I know, the Hy-Tower doesn’t show up too well in this picture, but it is a pretty sunrise eh?)

PLUS it’s a hose on 40, easy to tune on all bands with no computer or moving parts. Both the SteppIR and Hy-Tower require at least 30 radials to be effective. The SteppIR only requires a 2 inch pipe in the ground but the Hy-Tower requires a 3 foot by 3 foot pad of concrete.

It's a small price to pay for such a pretty antenna.  So, using my old DR Trimmer with the trimmer attachment (bent the blade to make a wider swath) dug the lines out from the Hy-Tower for radials: 66 footers, 33 footers and some 10 footers.  Just buried "Bury Flex" coax back to the shack and away we go. The Hy-Tower folds over, so in the event you ever need to straighten anything, add anything or just want to inspect it, just loosen two bolts and lay it down, all by your self.  It’s that easy. So, I finished the search for a vertical.  Put it on the air and am very very satisfied with the performance. AND with no moving parts, a substantial ground, it will hold up for many many years of maintenance free performance. JOB ONE DONE.

NOW, what to do about the lack of a long boom multi element Monobander for 20 15 and 10????? And what about 30, 17 and 12?

That’s what I had and that is the performance that we (most all DX'ers) want.

A search of all the alternatives led me to one conclusion.  It couldn’t be done in the same style as when the three tower antenna farm was in the back yard. Won’t be able to climb them and work on the ring rotators, the elements, etc.. You all know what I mean. The passage of time on the muscles, joints and hands take their toll, not to mention the energy levels .

AND a fact of life is that if you have stuff in the air, it WILL break and you WILL have to work on it.

How to work around those facts. Turns out its easy… A call to U.S. Tower company in Lincoln, KS brought their mfg supervisor on the line. We talked about what was available and what it would require.

The Ideal tower: 72 foot motorized crank up. 5 foot mast, coax ring holders, fold-over base and a tower raising structure with crank up winch. The whole package comes to less than $6,000 and a $300 trip to Kansas with your pickup truck and trailer to get it. (even that is fun if you share it with a fellow ham).

You will have to make a cage out of re-bar and dig a BIG hole to put it all in (5 foot by 5 foot by 6 foot deep).  You can start the dig, but I would recommend you hire a young guy to finish it!  About 6 ½ yards of concrete.

That done and the wiring out to the tower (mine is at the back of the barn so all wiring just runs from my shack in the barn back to the tower).  You are almost ready to do some more thinking, the ANTENNA(S)…..

A bit more about the reasoning for the electric crank up. First of all – it's electric – Even if you're 90, you should be able to push the switch and watch it go from 23 feet nested to 72 feet soaring!! Even if you're 90, you should be able to push the switch, nest the tower and then unlock the 9 bolts from the base and tilt it over to work on the rotator/mast/antenna/coax ON THE GROUND LEVEL…

That is the real KEY - work on it at the ground level!

Just remember if you were on the tower as when younger, and you suddenly lost your balance, footing or whatever, you break something. At our age that is a life changing event. We just don’t have to take that chance with this type tower.

I know, now you’re thinking that's just an old man talking.  Well put your ego aside and think about the reality of life. We are here for a short period of time.  We all want that to be quality time. What better way than to make sure we don’t short change that time by taking away some of the obvious risks associated with our towers and antennas.

It's fun to brag about "My Antenna Farm" , the Long Boom Monobanders, etc.  BUT if you listen around in this particular time, you will start to hear some other bragging stuff about how one antenna does it all…. One coax, easily replaced elements, light weight and a MONOBANDER on all the ham bands, all on one boom!

No, I am not a salesman for the SteppIR Company, but I have had a lot of experience with them.  Had one on YAP in a typhoon that withstood it all and twisted the rebar at the base of the pipe tower but did not even bother the antenna. We have used them on several DXpeditions with outstanding service. Look around on the web and you will see that many others have also used them on DXpeditons. WHY? Because they work; on all bands; easy to put up, and they last. You will hear the comments on the length of the boom, etc. Well, I will say this... you may not be the first one to get the rare DX, but you will be there right after the big guns get him.  It's just a matter of hours, not weeks!

SO what has been decided, (several of us old guys have already figured this out)?  The three element SteppIR with the 30/40 element  trombone gives you 40/10 and everywhere in-between. If you’re a 6 meter buff, you can add that too. You end up with a dipole on 30 and 40, AND a 3 element monobander on all the other bands - all with one coax and one beam. AND this antenna really does the job.

As regards to maintenance, you nest the tower, tip it over and work on the antenna on the ground. One of the reasons we picked the 3 element was for the 16 foot boom. That puts the center at 8 foot from the ground when you tilt it over. Using a small step ladder, you can easily do any work you need at a SAFE height. Let’s say you got unsteady and fell off the 4 foot ladder. That would not be a life threatening fall.  If that happened on the old tower, up at the top, that might be funeral time…

It's tough to grow old. It's tough to admit that you no longer should be climbing towers. It's tough to wake up in the morning and find that some of your joints hurt. It's tough to think about how old your coax is, how old the tower guy wires are and how brittle they may be. It's tough to think that the wind has bent your elements on that high beam two or three years ago and it's still up there twisted.

That all goes away when you look in the mirror and say to yourself, "I am good with the age. I am going to make my hamming life safe, easy, and lasting". I will enjoy this life-long hobby till the last breath goes!

That happens when you do what I and some other guys I ham with have done. The tilt over, motorized tower, the 3 element SteppIR Antenna…

See you on the AIR!

Cal White WF5W        

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