Final Ham Radio Tower Comments

[@JoeLalumia]

The 5 "Murphy" issues with the tower were, #1-- a broken wire on the rotor control line. #2. A small welding bump on the inside of the top section that prevented us from inserting the mast. #3. Bad SWR due to a backwards mounted trap coil. #4. A bad rotor control box. #5. The wrong Alpha Delta lightning arrest rated for 200 watts instead of 2000 watts. All were corrected within a week or two. This was a great learning experience for me and I thank all of the amateur operators that assisted me in finding and correcting these issues. 73

[@geraldshultz4271]

Good video Joe. Thanks for the tip on welding the anchor eye shut. How did you insert the guy anchor into the ground? Twisting it into the ground or dig a hole? Also if twisted, what (tool) did you use to twist it in? Did you install it at an angel? Thanks

[@JoeLalumia]

Went to "Tractor Supply" and bought mobile home tie down anchors. (4FT long) we twisted these into the ground using a short piece of rebar. We did NOT dig a hole.

[@geraldshultz4271]

Thank you Joe I always learn from your videos.

[@JoeLalumia]

I think I called The Hallicrafters Receiver an SB80-- why? I don't know! :) It's actually a Model S-38B..

[@scubasky]

Why would you connect your tower grounds to the electrical mains ground?

[@JoeLalumia]

To equalize the entire tower and radio ground system throughout the house see this perimeter grounding system article- by DX engineering: static.dxengineering.com/pdf/Lightning%20Protection%20P3.pdf Mine is not as extensive as shown since the entire house is not surrounded.Only a part of the house. Also I did not put down additional ground rods as shown in the article, just the 3 shown in the video which are interconnected in a circle around the tower pad. This helps to dissipate the lightning current before it reaches your equipment. However I do unplug the equipment during a lightning event including disconnecting the rotor cable. The coax is grounded at the tower and another lightning arrester is on the ground rod outside the shack. 73

[@JoeLalumia]

This was my previous shack layout. See my later videos for the custom desk I had built in 2015 along with the dual monitor setup. Here is the link: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gXLFoIZvbLFqbJI

[@JoeLalumia]

Help support this channel. Visit my product recommendation web site and use the links there to buy. This site has videos and articles you may not have seen along with my Amazon Associate and Ebay Partner links to products. If you buy using my links you help support this channel. www.joelalumia.wixsite.com/telescopeman