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Old April 22nd 11, 12:47 AM posted to rec.radio.amateur.antenna
Sal M. Onella[_2_] Sal M. Onella[_2_] is offline
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First recorded activity by RadioBanter: Oct 2009
Posts: 74
Default Tower hinge, would this work?

On Apr 20, 8:58*am, stryped wrote:

snip

I would still need to climb part way up it or have the capability to
to adjust my sat dish. I cant figure out a good way to do it with the
tower leaned over.


I assume you meant " part way up to have ...", so I'll offer an
approach to the satellite dish portion: You can make a very accurate
angle finder, irrespective of whether the tower is upright or tilted.
I did it virtually free.

Photocopy a protractor or print an Internet graphic of one and paste/
tape it to a smooth flat surface. For mine I used a waste chunk of
half-inch pine and the size -- 180 degrees' worth of arc -- is about
ten inches. I printed it up to that size on standard paper.

Paste the protractor so the vertex (the point from which the angles
originate) is on one edge of the board. Hang a weighted string from
the vertex. (I used dial cord; it's strong, smooth and thin.) When
the board is held vertical, the angle of the top or bottom edges of
the board are indicated by the angle mark crossed by the string.

The string is only a tenth of a degree wide so you figure I can set
angles pretty well using this crude, clunky device. (I used it to
install a C-band dish in the 1980s; I got elevation perfect the first
time and azimuth within a quarter-degree.)

Given that one picture is worth a thousand words, I have a graphic I
drew. I'm having trouble uploading it to my web provider but I will
email it to you if you like. You can post here or directly email your
interest to me at the "sobars" email address you see for me at
cox.net.

73,
"Sal"
(KD6VKW)