[WVARC] Tower move

[Stephen Goodman]

I remember the antenna move well. I think we celebrated later by having a
cocktail and collapsing on your front lawn. We could hear Jimi Hendrix as he
played at Devonshire Downs. The sunspots were great in '68.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Joseph M. Wade" <w6yr@arrl.net>
To: <wvarc@kkn.net>
Sent: Monday, September 30, 2002 3:29 PM
Subject: RE: [WVARC] Tower move


> Here is how I remember the tower move:
>
> I had been using a really flimsy 54' crankup built by Tri-ex that had such
a
> small top section that the TR-44 Rotor had to be put on the mast above the
> tower.  At the time I was using a 4 ele monoband 20 meter beam and on top
of
> that I had a Hy-Gain 10-15 meter beam that was also 4 elements.  Magnet
had
> put up the whole array but warned me that he didn't feel too good about
it.
> Sure enough the antennas were a mess after some big winds, although the
> tower didn't come down.
>
> Brian Cork, WB6YJM had a bigger 54' Tri-ex tower for sale for a pretty
good
> price.  I think it was about $300.  He lived in Woodland Hills and I lived
> in Northridge.  Not knowing any better, I figured that we could tie the
> tower to the top of my 57 Chevy and get it moved.  This was probably late
> 1968 and my car was 11 years old, rather slow but built like a tank.
>
> We got the tower on top of the car and tied it down somewhat and set off
for
> Northridge.  In the car were myself, Tree, my cousin Bob (ex -WN6YNJ SK).
I
> am not sure about the others but I think NWK was in the car.  I think HGU
> followed us in his vehicle and I seem to remember another car as well.
>
> As you mentioned, we did try to stay on side streets as much as possible
but
> in the end we had to go up Topanga Canyon.  I remember stopping the car
many
> times because the tower was sliding all over the place, from left to right
> and back and sometimes over the top of the car toward the hood.  The hood
> had pretty much caved in from the weight.  But who cares about a few
> scratches when you have your hands on a nice tower.
>
> It must have looked pretty strange to other cars on the street.  A white
57
> chevy with a crushed in roof.  A bunch of hands sticking out the windows
> trying to stabilize a steel monster that was threatening to smash anything
> within 20 feet of the chevy if it came off.  I knew in 5 minutes that it
was
> a bad idea.
>
> That was a pretty long ride.  Seems like it took almost an hour to cover
the
> distance.
>
> But it all worked out ok.  We got the tower to my house, the roof popped
> back into place and the hairy ride across the valley was soon forgotten as
I
> anticipated what it would be like having some stable antennas up for a
> change.
>
> I am quite certain that several of those that helped out advised me to
rent
> a U-haul trailer or truck.  I guess I was determined to try it my way.
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: wvarc-admin@kkn.net [mailto:wvarc-admin@kkn.net]On Behalf Of Tree
> Sent: Monday, September 30, 2002 12:06 PM
> To: wvarc@loja.kkn.net
> Subject: [WVARC] Tower move
>
>
>
> One of the more vivid memories I have from "the early years" was helping
Joe
> move
> a tower from Chatsworth (or perhaps northern Canoga Park) to his home in
> Granada Hills.
>
> It was something like a 54 foot crankup tower.  It was put on top of some
> kind of old
> beater car - and there were 4 or 5 of us with arms out of the windows
> holding onto this
> thing.  I remember all the fun we had going around a turn.  We went down
the
> side streets
> as much as possible (what is that road between Roscoe and Parthenia?).
>
> At any rate - was wondering if all of the people in that car are here?
>
> Tree
> _______________________________________________
> Victory through Mug
>
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> Victory through Mug
>