[WARC] Witoka Tower Beam Installation

[Richard Lindner]

Very nice.  Thank you again for all that you do.

Dick

On Sun, Nov 12, 2023 at 12:34 PM Mike Foerster via WARC <warc at w0ne.org>
wrote:

>
>
> With a great deal of thanks to Dan, WK0W, Justin, KF0BSI, Austin KFOLMB
> and Paul, AD9UU as well as my son Tony, KE0PXI, we managed to get the
> club’s tri-band beam, a Mosley Classic 33, setup at the Witoka site.  This
> beam covers the 20, 15 and 10 Meter bands.  The rotor is a Yaesu G-800SA
> with some cable that was donated by Skip, K7YOO.  I was able to splice the
> pieces and get it connected up and working at my home QTH.
>
>
>
> We mounted the beam on a 20 foot pole with a thrust bearing at the top,
> and 4 ropes to keep the mast vertical.  The beam height is about 25’.
> There is also a thrust bearing, thanks to Mike, W0VTT at the top of the
> stand.
>
>
>
> We decided that mounting it in front of the gate would get to close to the
> AC Power line pole coming into the shack, so we moved it to just north of
> the perimeter fence.  With the crew of 6, we could raise and lower the
> assembled antenna quite easily and quickly.  There was a bit of discussion
> about setting the tower exactly vertical, but with the help of a shovel in
> Justin’s truck we were able to quickly straighten it out.  The mast was
> guyed with some ropes using a sliding knot, allowing for easy length
> adjustment.  Once set, the ropes were locked in place with tie wraps to
> keep them from sliding.   Using the rotor controller (manually), the beam
> turns as it should.  I checked the rotation and cables, and everything
> appears OK.
>
>
>
> The beam is set in the field just north of the perimeter fence.
>
>
>
> The SWRs were quite satisfactory.
>
>     These images were taken from the IC-7300 SWR function.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> The beam is pointed to the EAST for now (Eastern US & Europe).  We don’t
> currently have the capability to turn the beam remotely, but hopefully, if
> it gets used a lot, we may be able to purchase a serial port add-on to
> allow user access to the rotor remotely.
>
>
>
> A few years ago, I built an automatic antenna switch, similar to the one
> that was described in the article that I wrote in the Nov/Dec issue of NCJ
> magazine.    With this, changing bands will automatically change the
> antennas.  I modified the code in the Arduino so that the beam will
> automatically be connected if you use the 20, 15 or 10 meter bands.  Due to
> the operation of the IC-7300, the 17m and 12m bands will operate off the
> beam.  This antenna match will be through the LDG Antenna tuner we have
> connected up.
>
>
>
> We will need to remove the beam from the field sometime next summer
> (probably before the field is mowed), but hopefully, it can remain for
> about 6 months or more.
>
>
>
> Have Fun!
>
>
>
> 73,
>
> Mike, W0IH
>
>
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> Message delivered to dick.lindner at gmail.com
>
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