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I finally ordered the new tower today.
- Thread starter Captain Kilowatt
- Start date
Uuugghhh.......... My worst fears came true. The hole has to be 5 1/2 feet or so deep. I hit soft shale at about 2 or 2 1/2 feet and it became solid slate at about 3 feet.
No time now until next Wed. The plan is to rent an electric jack hammer to break up the slate so I can continue the Big Dig. There is no way a small backhoe can dig it up and a large one will just make a big mess of everything. 
Yeah, and I know two blasters in town here too. One just lives up the road. I wonder if Tom would bring a little dynamite home. On second thought the hole is only 43 feet from my basement wall.
On second thought the hole is only 43 feet from my basement wall.
Prolly only take a small charge strategically placed to break up that slate.
We used to blow up tree stumps on our farm, and it never did any harm to the plumbing or the foundation. Soil is very soft at that. Just a little dab will do ya.
Think the trick here is to drill a shallow hole in the slate for the small charge.
Go for it!
EDIT:
How are you going to mount the 3 ground rods?
We used to blow up tree stumps on our farm, and it never did any harm to the plumbing or the foundation. Soil is very soft at that. Just a little dab will do ya.
Think the trick here is to drill a shallow hole in the slate for the small charge.
Go for it!
EDIT:
How are you going to mount the 3 ground rods?
Soil is one thing, solid rock is another and one corner of my house foundation is sitting on that same bed of rock so blasting is entirely out of the question.When I hit the slate bed with a sledge hammer the tower sections stacked to the side actually vibrated so imagine what blasting would do.
As for the ground rods, I will have to drive them in as deep as I can and use at least two per leg.Ground radials will also be installed in random lengths and directions as well as I may shunt feed the tower for 160m and I will have an inverted L so I need radials. I also plan to ground the cables where they enter the house and I know I can get a lot deeper over there. Copper strap about 2 1/2 inches wide will be used to bond the entrance point to the electrical service entrance as well so I may not be that bad when all is said and done.
As for the ground rods, I will have to drive them in as deep as I can and use at least two per leg.Ground radials will also be installed in random lengths and directions as well as I may shunt feed the tower for 160m and I will have an inverted L so I need radials. I also plan to ground the cables where they enter the house and I know I can get a lot deeper over there. Copper strap about 2 1/2 inches wide will be used to bond the entrance point to the electrical service entrance as well so I may not be that bad when all is said and done.
Well good news and bad news. First the bad. The hole excavation is going to take a little longer. I had a little accident in the shower yesterday and ended up with a pulled latissimus dorsi muscle in my back and a couple bruised ribs. Digging just is not going to happen this week. DAMN! And I had it all planned to finish it with a jack hammer on Thursday too.
Now the good news. I got an email from Harold at Macfarlane's Electronics. Between the time Day and Ross gave him the shipping quote for my tower and the time they actually billed him they moved him up to volume shipper status. This resulted in me having a credit with him for $890.98 for overpayment of shipping charges.:w00t: I have been wanting an antenna for 12/17m as well as the Explorer 14 for 10,15,20, and 40m but was over budget and decided to rebuild the old A3 instead. That has become a headache but now with the credit I think I will just have him ship me an A3W, some cable and a bucket of PL-259 connectors to balance out the credit.
Now the good news. I got an email from Harold at Macfarlane's Electronics. Between the time Day and Ross gave him the shipping quote for my tower and the time they actually billed him they moved him up to volume shipper status. This resulted in me having a credit with him for $890.98 for overpayment of shipping charges.:w00t: I have been wanting an antenna for 12/17m as well as the Explorer 14 for 10,15,20, and 40m but was over budget and decided to rebuild the old A3 instead. That has become a headache but now with the credit I think I will just have him ship me an A3W, some cable and a bucket of PL-259 connectors to balance out the credit.
Well, thats sucks about your injuries. And that really sucks about the credit. (which means thats great for you)
(which means thats great for you)
You could now qualify for either the Unluckiest, lucky guy on the forum right now or the luckiest, unlucky guy on the forum right now. :w00t:
Your injuries will heal, you will have a great tower and antenna when all is said and done.
Be careful, old man and tell us how great it is when you get it on the air.
Your injuries will heal, you will have a great tower and antenna when all is said and done.
Be careful, old man and tell us how great it is when you get it on the air.
Perhaps you shower in an environment where that is a wise thing to do.
Actually if you have ever had Head and Shoulders Refresh shampoo in your eyes you will understand my near panicked state at the time of the "incident".
That tingly fresh feel does NOT apply to the corneas.
Feeling a lot better even just today. When I fell it was in the morning just after finishing a night shift and then I went directly to bed. That gave everything a good chance to tighten and seize up so to say. Up and around today started off bad but as the day wore on things felt better. We had LOTS of rain and wind last night/today so all was not lost. The hole is nearly full of water right now and it's still raining a bit so again no lost time really. I confirmed with Harold today that I want the Cushcraft A3WS, 50 feet of Yaesu 6 wire rotator cable (the cable included with the G-2800 rotator is a little bit too short) and a bunch of silver/teflon PL-259 connectors to make up the difference of the credit. That will give me three active rotary elements on 10, 12, 15, 17, and 20m, one element rotary on 40m and six rotary elements on 6m when all is said and done. The Explorer 14 will be at about 62 feet, the A3WS at about 67 feet, and the 6m yagi at about 72 feet. Now all I need is some decent fall weather to git'r done.
Just got back from a few days away, went to St. Andrews-by-the-Sea in New Brunswick. Opened up the house door and there laying on the kitchen floor was a Cushcraft A3WS. A real Cushcraft prior to MFJ owning them.Apparently Harold at Macfarlane's had some NOS on hand. My parents were here checking on things when the courier arrived. Tomorrow I'll work on getting the base section ready as well as some mods to the top section I want to do. Tuesday is jack hammer day and I hope to have the base poured before I go back to work on Sunday.
A real Cushcraft prior to MFJ owning them.Apparently Harold at Macfarlane's had some NOS on hand. My parents were here checking on things when the courier arrived. Tomorrow I'll work on getting the base section ready as well as some mods to the top section I want to do. Tuesday is jack hammer day and I hope to have the base poured before I go back to work on Sunday.