TOPIC: TV Antenna

Whatta day.
Rained all day, hard rain. Most of the leaves raked and cleaned up. Football game not until this evening so I decided time to put up my new HD TV antenna. I do have Dish as a provider to three of the sets in the house but I depend on over the air HD for the bedroom. I'm on a fringe area about 25 miles north of Green Bay (tundra) so indoor and attic antennas are marginal at best, get lots of dropouts. An old navy bud of mine is a ham operator so he "advises" me via email from Atlanta on what type of antenna to get. I purchased this humungus 150 mile range lightning rod, took about two hours to figure out how to put it together. I have an old rotor from back in the 70's so I decided to put that to use also. I have a house with the steep roof lines and the gable end is 2 1/2 stories high. My ladder almost reaches where I want to install this honey. I got the gable mounts installed and lagged in, antenna mounted to the pole/rotor and now to haul the sucker up the ladder. Keep in mind this thing is about 10 feet long and 8 feet wide and really bendable aluminum so it's fragile. I managed to carry it up the ladder, hook up my safety harness to the gable mount and find out that the muscle strength and footing just aren't adequate to quite get all the pipes in place. So there she sits for the week. I'll have to call my son or grandson to see who get t climb the roof and help. Oh and one more thing....the weather is going to be in the upper 20's the next few nights
Cal

Yeah, all them projects look easy from the ground. Hope it stays up there for a week for you. Skip.

Ah the best laid plans of mice and men..........I know that feeling all to well. I'm with Skip hope the winds stay down til the weekend. If I lived closer I'd help you out but your just a little too far buddy.

Bob

I KNOW THE FEELING. I was an exterminator and now I'm so unsteady with my back, legs, knees and arthritis I feel unsafe two feet off the ground. This coming from a man who used to work the big steel and dangled 13 stories up to kill yellow jackets at the Keystone Power Plant in Shelocta Pa.

yep cal,when we moved into this house 13 years ago I had to do the same but on top of a 30 foot aluminum light pole,round one yet to boot.
I must have been crazy then.

Robert I also hung off the side of keystone power plant from the top floor to remove asbestos from the pipe going around the outside of the building,i must have been crazy then.lol.john

Me thinks we're all somewhat fuzzy around the edges. Why would we take sinking boats and float them again??? Because no one told us we can't.
Anyway...to top things off there was a trace of snow the next morning. Put that on aluminum ladder rungs and it's a recipe for disaster. I compromised and took off the rotor unit until next spring and just put the antenna/pipe in the holder. Getting a 89% signal strength so things are working. Just have to run the ground wire today and then put the ladders away.

Well John at least it was a beautiful view. In the 80's I worked out Labor Local 952 And was all over that plant. I had a job once at Combustion Engineering just to steal tools off other contractors for six weeks. Everything painted orange was ours and we were given an unlimited supply of orange paint to prove it. We worked the midnight shift. We filled a 60 foot trailer with orange tools.

I have had an antenna on my roof for 25years with an old Alliance Tenna -Rotor. Winegard they still make antennas and acc. I also have direct TV. But if the weather is bad and blocks the signal I go to antenna.

I know the feeling about putting stuff up in the air. I had to replace the amplifier. Boy was that a job. I also had to get help to lift it into the rotor.
It still works fine. It was given to me in 85.
There are amps you can add if you need for better reception.

Also when they went to digital they use more of the UHF band. So it is important to have a good UHF antenna.

I was my dad's "rotor" back in our antenna days. I recall having to go outside and slowly turn the thing while listening for "Hold it! Don't move!!" ah memories...