Brian Kelly wrote:
Dave Heil wrote in message ...
Brian Kelly wrote:
Cincinnati, like Rome, is built on seven hills. There are a number of
other hills on the Kentucky shore. Most of 'em have radio towers. I
operated from four spots during my days in the area: As WB4KTR/8, I was
a block off the U.C. campus on top of the hill in an area called
Clifton. I had no tower but was able to put a mast on top of the three
storey commercial building. I moved across the river to Fort Thomas in
'74 and operated from atop the hill in that town with a tribander on a
40' push-up mast. Site three was in Mt. Airy, across the road from a
nice, quiet 1600 acre city forest. I used a 60 foot tower there.
Finally, I moved to the west side of the city to Cheviot.
Jeez. Didja ever get to completely unpack??
It was good training for the Foreign Service days ahead. Unpack
everything, put up the antennas, operate for two or three years, take
down the antennas, pack everything, move to a new location, unpack
everything, put up the antennas...
That same 60
footer was used there and was then hauled around the world. There are
still tower bases for that one in the ground in Botswana and Tanzania.
The tower stayed in Dar es Salaam. The embassy now uses it for a
repeater antenna.
"World's most traveled tower". Foggy Bottom did pay you for the tower
when you left it with 'em right?
Indeed they did and they paid to move it a bunch of times.
In a tale similar to yours, we came back to the U.S. from Helsinki in
the late 90's and ended up with a Pontiac Grand Am. I was underwhelmed
with the underpowered, poor-handling beast.
I gave up on Detroit iron 20 years ago and I haven't run across any
particularly good reasons to go back.
Most of the U.S. machines are now much better than those made a couple
of decades back. You'll find a few Q-ships though. The Pontiac Vibe,
for example, is a Toyota.
Naw, all stock. I stop using the performance tires when the factory
rubber gives up the ghost. It doesn't matter which tires I buy, the
twisty, hilly roads hereabouts make certain that I get only about 25,000
miles on them as the outside corners get worn down.
I have some West Virginny time under my belt, I understand the "hills"
and the driving condx. A month in the coal mines in the Bluefield area
working an accident expert witness job was one of my "tours". Very
different part of the world when it comes to driving. And everything
else for that matter vs. here. Not a place for timid or anal drivers.
We have some of both but they are usually self-removed from the gene
pool.
Unfortunately, they often take others with them.
Just be careful you don't end up with a deer
pasted to the front of it.
I'm tuned, we have monstrous herds of the things close at hand right
here, we do some *serious* deer-ducking too. At 60 mph on four-lane
divided highways.
The past couple of winters it hasn't been uncommon to come home at night
to find twenty or thirty of the critters on our place. They've even
bedded down right around the perimeter of the house.
Dunno if I can trust it to make Wheeling & vicinity and back or not
but I'm seriously mulling that prospect come the warmer winds of the
days ahead. I figger if I gotta thumb it back home on the PA tpk. I
might as well do it when it's warmer.
I have a half side of beef in the freezer, your choice of beverage, a
comfy guest room and plenty of radio gear. If you talk 'EY into coming,
you guys can fight to see who gets the futon in the shack overflow room.
He gets the back deck, I get the guest room.
The guest room is comfy. The futon is twelve feet from the rig.
I keep wondering how she'd "restyle" N2EY's Southgate 7 contraption .
.
I see it in a National 60's blue wrinkle cabinet with satin stainless
panel. There'd be no miniaturization with plenty of room for mods.
OK, so it would be about the size of a steamer trunk and it would need
castors to be able move it about . . details, details . . don't bore
me with stupid details, "I'm a concept guy . . "
I understand, now that you've 'splained it to me. We could use a
four-foot rack, turned on its side. That's going to be one expensive
stainless panel.
This is gonna be a class radio, right up there with the IC-7800, cost
in NO object.
Reminds me of OH2BH's classic tale of the Russian EMP-proof cellular
phone. It was all vacuum tubes and took up the trunk of a car.
Eventually. Bigger priorities are looming for now.
I'm gonna spend a few hours running with the big dawgs this weekend as
a reality check, third op at the N3RS baby multi in the ARRL CW DX
blast. Haven't done one of these for a quarter century, this is gonna
be UGLY.
I heard one of your ops calling LU2EWL on 10m yesterday.
Dave K8MN
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