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Aluma T-75XHD tower install

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Aluma T-75XHD tower install

Aluma T-75XHD tower install:

The tower finally came in, and I didn’t waste any time before starting to dig.

The 6″ hole was dug using a 1 ft bit with two extensions. It got heavy after a while, so used the tractor to lift it up after the bit filled up.

Nice and smooth all the way down.

Again, used the tractor to lift the massive MP2 pole into the hole, and proceeded to level it up.

Nice and level.

A couple of weeks later, and the pole is set completely back-filled and hard-packed all the way up to the surface.Tower carefully strapped underneath the bucket using plenty of wood for support. Yaesu 1000 DXA rotator and mast already installed.

 

 

Beautiful…

Cabinet in place, containing coax poly-phasers, roter control arrestor, and other equipment.

Fully extended to 70 ft.

This was an easy two person job, with the help from my lovely wife. She was doing the supervising. This install was a long time coming. Now for the next stop, getting the Optibeam OB 12-4 yagi installed on top, using a crane. More to come.

9/16/2022: Finally got the crane in to lift the Optibeam up in the air, and bolted onto the nested tower. What a beautiful sight.

Yours truly bolting the antenna to the mast plate.

Now on to digging a trench for pvc, and pull cables.

Business end

Trenched in a few minutes, about a foot deep. 

Started working in the tower cabinet. Connected up the Poly Phasers and the rotor control lightning arrester. Plenty of space in there to add a 4-position coax switch a little later. I added a 120 V feed into the cabinet to enable the use of a 120 V electric winch. Cranking this thing up using a manual worm gear winch that was supplied by Aluma, gets old pretty fast.

Almost done. Need a RatPak antenna switch in there.

All Done….

Optibeam OB 12-4 HF antenna assembled

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Optibeam OB 12-4 HF antenna assembled

Finally got the Optibeam OB 12-4 HF antenna assembled and ready to be installed on a tower. This thing is built like a tank, weighing in at about 140 lbs. 40, 20,15 and 10 meter bands. Can not wait to get this beast installed and up to 75 feet.

25 ft boom, Longest elements are the 40 meter elements at about 50 ft.

 

Solar Cycle 25

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This is very exiting. Solar Cycle 25 is ramping up. That means excellent High Frequency Radio Propagation,
This is good news for Amateur Radio DX operations (long distance propagation and communication on the Amateur Radio HF bands)

Solar Cycle 25 Predictions

The start of a new Solar Cycle (25) means there will be increasing activity and more sunspots until roughly July 2025.

The initial extended forecast is that Solar Cycle 25 will below average, quiet, and cool. This is very similar to its predecessor Solar Cycle 24—the weakest cycle since record-keeping began in 1755.

“According to NOAA/NASA and international experts: “Cycle 25 will be similar in size to Cycle 24, preceded by a long, deep minimum. Solar Cycle 25 may have a slow start, but is anticipated to peak with solar maximum occurring between 2023 and 2026, and a sunspot range of 95 to 130. This is well below the average number of sunspots, which typically ranges from 140 to 220 sunspots per solar cycle.”

  • Specifically, the experts predicted: a peak in July, 2025 (+/- 8 months), with a smoothed sunspot number (SSN) of 115.
  • The panel agreed that Cycle 25 will be average in intensity and similar to Cycle 24, and its peak will be similar as well.
  • Additionally, the panel concurred that solar minimum between Cycles 24 and 25 will occur in April, 2020 (+/- 6 months). 

Contrary to NOAA/NASA’s models, there have been more recent studies with models which suggest that Solar Cycle 25 could be one of the strongest since record-keeping began.