Watch Out your Tower

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Incoming Rainy season with high speed windy condition makes everything must be alerted and get full attention. For YB’ers whom are having full supporting tower and triangle version, you should check and watch out of your antenna tower.

It probably checked over the session was change or coming, especially when rainy season come over couple weeks ago to YB land. A thought when i had seen my friend video of YB8IBD from Kendari, Salmin Sahidin YBDXC #175, when he was climb his tower 28 meters (91.86 ft) high from the ground yesterday.

A full check of tower condition and performance needed couple times of the year. Even you think the condition is fine, a perfect tower needs to be evaluated and inspected by the owner or the user. The following steps should be done as the bigger tower will be having more spesific maintenance, below the main steps for small tower as triangle with guy mast:

1. Wire and Spanner Checking. It is a mandatory step, because guy mast tower should have a strong and performed wires, it would be able to supporting the tower as long as it could be. Therefore it would have regularly checked once in a 6 months basis, especially when the climate seasons changing and sometimes the weather is unpredictable.
2. Nuts and Bolts Connecting Checking. It will be a next step to prevent any condition which getting worse, a connection between nuts and bolts should be checked and if any, broken connection would have to go repaired or it needs to be fixed by the welder.
3. Crack Checking. If any crack found and seriously happened then it should be discussed with the tower builder or expert. Especially for the height more than 15 meters (49.21 ft) from the ground.
4. The Outer layer Paint. A small part but also important, to repaint the entire body of tower, preventing from the Rust and checking the iron parts condition.
5. The Round up Checking: to ensure anything is safe for yourself and your gears, checking the grounding and foundation. Safety and more safety. Please use properly harness when you or your helper climb up the tower.

Good luck, 73

Irsan – YC0OST