Aiming a 6Gig Dish

[@Fireship1]

Glad to see you are making new videos John. I liked how you did the camera placement on this one. The split screen was also a very cool touch. Thanks for sharing the video.

[@John_Smith__]

A huge lesson from this Great video ..birds like to hangout on Antenna towers :) One more great video John keep it up, and the image from the GoPro is great.

[@DaveJohnsonad5nm]

I do enjoy your videos John. I began tower work in the late 70's as a paid past time while stationed at Barksdale AFB. I was doing mission specific flight training and while talking with new friends on a 2m repeater I was offered a job replacing some bulbs the rest is history. The safety equipment was only a belt so seeing your safety equipment and practice is a pleasure. A couple other pilots came out to watch me install a 6 bay 460mhz ant one weekend and asked me if I'd ever worried about the tower coming down, lol. I was more concerned about the maintenance of my HUEY than the tower falling.

[@jhettish]

Thanks for the comment. I assume you're not climbing any more. I have a pilot's license and a ham license but can't imagine using ham equipment (2 meters, 2cm) for communications airplane to airplane during training. :-) For many of us in the two-way business our job tends to cure us or our ham addiction pretty quickly.

[@DaveJohnsonad5nm]

John Hettish not a good idea while flying unless it's hf, lol. No more climbing for me. Spent my life flying for the Marine Corps. I only climbed as a hobby job for profit.

[@jhettish]

Make sure your mind is always "in the game" when doing tower work. If you have an accident the recovery time (if possible) is really tough. Be in good shape, body and mind, especially the mind. On a tower each move should be a conscious thought and it's not hard to focus. In the military (former army) we used a buddy system. I kept an eye on my buddy and he kept an eye on me. We would advise each other but his absolute focus when on a tower was him and my absolute focus was/is "me", not necessarily him. We also use the "You've got it" followed by the reply, "I've got it".

[@actthree34]

The video from the GoPro was really quite good. It gives us a view of your work that we've never had before. Keep up the good work!

[@jhettish]

I'm glad you liked the experiment. It's hard to synchronize the audio from one camera to match the video of another camera. It wouldn't be so bad if the whole video was in real time but that would be a rather boring 45 minute video. I make edits mainly to keep the video under 20 minutes and preferably closer to 10 minutes. I really worked with this one making sure I could synchronize my use of the portable and wrenches (in the split screen) and it took about six hours until I started to get the hang of it. I'm truly glad you noticed and like it.

[@timmack2415]

Damn! That tower sure attracts a lot of birds!

[@hbscouse]

Hey John, a big high from the UK, glad to see that you're still climbing to get to work and posting videos. The GoPro angle is an added bonus and works well, keep up the good work and keep us all posted 😀

[@jhettish]

Thanks Harry, I appreciate the comment. John

[@royamberg9177]

I was thinking about you last week and was going to send an email but never got it done. looks like your doing well. yes it's amazing how much bird droppings a tower can have built up on it.

[@SteveHolsten]

I'd watch it around the bird droppings. It carries Histoplasmosis. I had a friend to get it & it was a slow painful death. I do enjoy the videos.

[@jhettish]

For some reason your comment showed up in my email three times and I know I answered the Histoplasmosis topic in one of them. I did want to thank you for your comment on enjoying the videos and to let you know I appreciate your taking the time to let me know.

[@infinitecanadian]

My sympathies for your friend.

[@infinitecanadian]

Are the spare cables connected to anything or are they just hanging there against the possibility that they might need to be used?

[@DaveJohnsonad5nm]

Tower climbing accidents are second in death rate only to active duty military personnel assigned to hostile regions. A trained and experienced tower technician is 40x more likely to die or suffer serious injury than any other non-military occupation in the world. Before you even look at your harness make certain everyday life junk is at home. Never take anything up that tower that is not mission specific. If its something that has that much of a grip on you, call in sick, its not worth anyone's life being at risk.

[@darrellrousu1390]

Good job but what's the highest have been

[@dougdiplacido2406]

No gloves and grabbing all of that bird crap. Geesh buddy.

[@jhettish]

Yep, but I was using tools which are easier to manipulate bare handed. I'm used to this and know when to and when not to wash my hands. John

[@jaa93997]

what is that rad center? 100? and you are pathing with the far side installed at 900? that is awesome!

[@jhettish]

Actually the center of radiation is around 85 feet. This is not the top of the tower. I'll try to remember to upload my path study to one of my Google Drives and post the link.

[@jonremington5899]

it's boring as hell to, but still watch you all the time. The tower Dawg. keep up the good work. I actually show your video to people close to me, so they get some idea what we (as Tower-Climbers) go through.

[@morejelloplease]

know any climbers in texas? i wouldnt mind doing this type of work

[@jhettish]

Some folks posting tower work videos want everyone to think that it's exciting and dangerous. At times it's boring as hell but as you and I know it's all about the work, not about the climbing. I don't want thrill-seekers on my crew, just steady boring guys. :-)

[@jhettish]

Check the NATE web site. I believe it's www.natehome.org. but I might be wrong. That's the National Association of Tower Erectors. I believe they have a listing of member companies on their web site. If not you could call them and ask for information on tower companies in and around Texas. I'm not a member of NATE though my company was an Associate Member for several years. Tower work is not our major income source so we couldn't be regular members. Finally I got tired of paying the dues and didn't renew. John

[@morejelloplease]

Thx john!

[@jhettish]

Thanks for watching.

[@crazygamertv761]

what are your favorite type of dish

[@norms3913]

Do they already the 6 g thing out now cause they are starting to put the 5 g out the towers now

[@willywgb]

Hi John Watching your videos I find them very interesting. I understand this tower is 100 ft high but wouldn't it be easier on you to have a light line to retrieve small items like a wrench? Someting like a old fishing reel? I can see this not very useful on really high towers as it would likely get blown away from the tower and tangled. Take care and stay safe. Regards Willy

[@jhettish]

Thanks for the comment Willie. Dropping things is not all that common probably because we see that as the most scary part of tower work. That fear causes to be extra careful with tools. John

[@MrMac5150]

*Did you leave the tool bag up there*. Cheers

[@jhettish]

You might have noticed that the closing indicated I had to climb back to the dish one more time. I came down thinking I needed an additional wrench. When I got back, and figured out how the tilt mechanism worked it became clear to me that I only needed one 9/16" wrench. I brought the bag back down at the end of the job. John

[@braydenbledsoe3252]

You don't mind grabbing all that bird crap? Takes guts

[@crazygamertv761]

wow I would call that a tower toilet lol 😛

[@lewiemcneely9143]

Just keep on singing and the video will take care of itself!

[@jhettish]

My problem is I can't remember the lyrics beyond a few words. Maybe I'll just make up lyrics. Yeah, what a concept. :-)

[@lewiemcneely9143]

John Hettish I was in a bluegrass band years ago and one of the singers just made up stuff if he forgot. I'd get really interesting at times because nobody knew when it'd happen but it worked. Either nobody was listening or he did better than I thought. And who's going to argue with you when you're a mile up in the air!! Not ME!!

[@jhettish]

I played in a country music band in Vietnam. Before I only played in rock bands. We entertained in the enlisted and NCO clubs around Saigon and Long Binh. I only did this for about three months and then got transferred to another assignment in country. I always made up what I didn't remember or never knew in the first place. Back then no one had the lyrics to popular songs. Now all one has to do is go to the internet. You will not hear "things were better in the good old days" very often from me and I'm nearly 72 years old. John

[@lewiemcneely9143]

John Hettish I started out over there in the 34th Engeneers and ended up in the 1st Cav. Didn't do much picking there but tried to make up for it after I got out till arthur took over. Another added bonus from agent orange I think. Maybe just being worn out but you got a 6 year head start on me. I went to Siagon once but it was at 24th Evac with a dose of malaria. And those days were NOT better in any way, shape or form. Welcome Home Brother in case someone hasn't told you that lately.

[@Frank-ue6eg]

Notice the technician had to descend all the way back down and then climb back up because he didn't have the correct wrench. Setting aside the question of why he didn't have the proper tools - that can happen, so no critique on that as long as it doesn't happen all the time - the obvious question is why he doesn't carry with him a reel of strong line, say 50 lb test, along with a power drill and attachment that could be used to bring up miscellaneous tools, documents or equipment needed for any reason.?

[@denniswofford]

John Hettish has a face!!!

[@millwrightdad3753]

SO MUCH PIGEON POOP WITH NO GLOVES

[@jhettish]

Yep, I do wash my hands regularly though. I've heard it said that long time residents of Tennessee have a certain amount of the Histplasmosis virus in their systems. I don't know if that's true or not but I've never had symptoms and have never been sidelined due to a respiratory problem. I haven't had any flu like illnesses for quite a few years. I treat it as an "if it ain't broke don't fix it" situation. I don't recommend it for everyone though. We worked inside a nearly 100 year old steeple recently and dressed in rain suits, gloves and dust masks, followed by a good hosing down once finished. None of us had any problems from that exposure.

[@melissalee2166]

Everybody in this comment thread scared of bird poop bacteria but I bet y'all aren't afraid of the bacteria that multiplies in those germy face diapers!!

[@Penfold8]

John I am surprised you haven't gotten some kind of disease with all the bird shit on the rails and struts.

[@jhettish]

Me too but I haven't. John