<div class="gmail_quote"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"><br>I have been a ham radio operator for 30 years and have owned and climbed
<br>many towers over the years. I do know what I am talking about and have<br>lost a friend to a old tower collapse. Put safety first over money you<br>might save.<br><br>Bill<br></blockquote></div><br>I too am a ham operator and have been working on towers for years before I recently ('bout 4 yrs ago) moved to North Carolina.
<br><br>Basically to the originator of the topic:<br>1) be CAREFUL<br>2) check the tower to verify condition and check the guy-wires for corrosion/rust and make sure they are tight before you climb.<br>3) old antennas almost always have rusted/junk screw connections for the wire. You will loose serious signal because of this. If the contacts are nasty, get another antenna as they are somewhat cheap, and if the wind blows the wrong way, the cable wont come loose,etc. (definate negative WAF factor of loosing signal in the middle of a rainy/or windy night. especially during a movie she is watching.)
<br>3) amp at the top of the tower (as stated earlier about signal loss. you cant amplify what isnt there). Also use a plastic? type grey utility box (with the rubber seal - home depot/lowes/etc) to keep equipment from getting weathered and use some silicon to keep rain out. This will save big time in the long run, and you can always mount new equipment later.
<br>4) , and for god sake, make sure everything is grounded best you can. you do not want lightning coming down the cable, and straight into the house (been there, done that!).<br>5) be careful some more, and verify grounding 1 more time. ;-)
<br>--James<br>