[Antennas] Question: using a ladder as a tower

[Bob - K2KI]

I have used ladders as a tower for many years. Mostly for FD.

One word of caution.....

It would be unwise to use an extension ladder. If you must, break it 
down so you only have one section up. I say this from personal experience.

I ran a 30' extension ladder as a tower and had my 15M mono banded yagi 
on top of it. We had a pretty wicked thunder storm roll by with very 
high winds, What ended up happening was the shearing force from the wind 
hitting the yagi caused the ladder to twist back and forth. The two 
halves broke apart and the antenna came crashing down totally destroying 
both the ladder and the antenna. Thank heaven, no one was hurt but I 
sure miss that antenna. :-)

Stick with a single section and make sure you are only going to use it 
temporarily.

Don't mean to scare you off with horror stories. Well... yes I do.. 
Learn from my stupidity!

73, cul...
Bob de k2ki


-
Denny Crane



John Klim, N3KHK wrote:
> Hi all,
>
>  
>
> Is anyone out there using a ladder as a tower with a rotor and a beam?  I am
> thinking about trying this configuration out and I wonder if anyone has done
> it?  I do not plan to attach the ladder to the house, I plan to put the
> ladder in the back yard and guy it.  Any help will be appreciated.
>
>  
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
>  
>
>  
>
>  
>
> 73 ES CUL
>
> John Klim
>
> N3KHK
>
>  
>
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