For Tower Junkies

[ka8ncr]

A climb up a guyed TV tower.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txdv_oNq81I

Watch for the motion sickness...

[NQ6U]

Man, talk about your brass balls...

[n0iu]

What a wuss!!! Next time try climbing a tower in a tuxedo and top hat!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUCwVQpxAXA&feature=channel

[NQ6U]

What a wuss!!! Next time try climbing a tower in a tuxedo and top hat!!!

I've seen that before, it's pretty cool, but the tower they climbed isn't even 1/10th as high as the one in the video above.

[K7SGJ]

There was a time I didn't mind climbing. I used to have to go up the 550' AM towers where I worked all the time, but I was a lot younger then and didn't really mind it. Several years later, while I was working at a local TV station, one of the other guys and I got called out for an antenna problem. Jimmy went up while I stayed on the ground sending up whatever he needed. After the repair was made, he was about half way back down the tower when he lost his grip, and wasn't tied off. He fell several hundred feet to his death. That really f*cked me up for a long time, and I haven't gone up a tower since. The really sad part was he was to have been married the following week.

Climb a 1600+ foot tower? NFW.

[NQ6U]

There was a time I didn't mind climbing.

Kind of the same for me, although to a lesser extreme. I used to be a CATV line tech and was up and down utility poles all day long for years. Then, one day, my gaffs cut out on one of those hard gas-treated poles (the grey ones, as opposed to the creosote-treated brown ones) and I fell about thirty feet. I was pretty lucky--the ground at the base of the pole was very soft because of recent rain and I wasn't hurt other than having to go to the emergency room to have a three-inch splinter removed from my right forearm. The doctor had to cut off the jacket and shirt I was wearing because the splinter had pinned them to my arm. I still continued to climb poles afterwards--in fact, I climbed that pole again immediately to finish the job before I went to the ER--but I was never as comfortable afterwards. Now, after having been away from it for twenty years, I find just thinking about it makes me a little nervous.

I'm not bothered by high places in general as long as I feel secure but I couldn't do any serious tower climbing any more. Once I get above twenty feet or so, I start feeling uncomfortable.

[NA4BH]

You people are NUCKIN' FUTS to climb something like that. And furthermore, what if you get to the top and have to make doo-doo?

[NQ6U]

what if you get to the top and have to make doo-doo?

You ever seen the splat a turd makes after it's fallen 1600 feet? Spec-tacular!

[kf0rt]

I wanna see that climb in Imax. :snicker::yes:

[W5RB]

Weird that this guy has my name . I've been to similar heights , in my skinnier days . Never had the nerve to climb outside at that height , to get on the antenna itself . I've ridden the lift to ~1500' , changing bulbs , mostly . Still the video is hard to watch . Makes me nearly nauseous . No Imax for me . Bob , I never had that come up while aloft , but more than once on the ground , the tower crew would call down on the radio or intercom and suggest , "Y'all might wanna get upwind for the next 3 or 4 minutes..."

[NA4BH]

You physics people, here is something for you.

A ball of poop, roughly 1" in diameter is released from a height of 1600ft. There is no wind or other atmospheric conditions to influence the ball. What would the speed of said ball be at impact and how big would the skid mark be on the ground. The ground surface is smooth concrete.

[W2NAP]

thats one thing you could never get me to do.

[W5RB]

thats one thing you could never get me to do.

'Cause you'd be scared $#!+less ? ;)

[kf0rt]

Never been that high before, but it's amazing how you can acclimate to the heights. My record was the top of the 6th stripe on a 400 footer. No elevator; took about 15 minutes to get there, as I recall. We always assumed that the more dangerous job was on the ground -- as a lad, I once accidentally knocked the pipe out of a guy's mouth from about 60' with a screwdriver. He was yellin' before I knew I lost it. We had a "no smoking" rule, and that possibly saved me from buyin' a new pipe. Upwind: always a good idea.

[W2NAP]

'Cause you'd be scared $#!+less ? ;)

i dont have the best of balance....

[W5RB]

All the tall ones I fooled with had elevators . Highest I ever climbed was 350~400 feet . Same for climbing on the outside of the tower , around 400' . Outside feels a lot different , and inside is preferred for several practical reasons , when there's room . The elevators ran around 100 feet a minute , which meant if you were near the top of the 1500-footer at McHenry , MS , and saw a thunderstorm 35 miles away at the coast , it was time to wrap up , 'cause it was a 15 minute trip down .

[kf0rt]

Never climbed anything big enough to have an elevator. The 400' tower was a NOAA weather sensor -- no antennas. Got to paint it (dirty job). Used to do light bulbs at KOSI-AM (over 200' and a live tower) and rebuilt the antenna/tower on KOSI-FM in 1976 or so. Nothing like an 8,000 lb. mounting plate hanging over your head and you're holding bolt #1 to tie it down.

I can see thrill-seekers today paying money to do some of those jobs.

[ki4itv]

That was hard to watch for me too.

NatGeo (I think) has a show on "biggest fixes" (?) about a super-tower crew. They recorded a 2000' tower fix where the actual antenna had to be lowered to the ground, repaired, and put back in place. It was insane.
The crew attached a gin pole on the side of the tower to lift, spin, and then lower the damn thing. AT TWO-THOUSAND FEET.
Looked like a bare-bones operation with crappy equipment, and had their own words for everything. Like Waah meant stop what you're doing immediately! Especially, "Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
funnierNhell, actually. good show.

[ka8ncr]

That was hard to watch for me too.

NatGeo (I think) has a show on "biggest fixes" (?) about a super-tower crew. They recorded a 2000' tower fix where the actual antenna had to be lowered to the ground, repaired, and put back in place. It was insane.
The crew attached a gin pole on the side of the tower to lift, spin, and then lower the damn thing. AT TWO-THOUSAND FEET.
Looked like a bare-bones operation with crappy equipment, and had their own words for everything. Like Waah meant stop what you're doing immediately! Especially, "Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
funnierNhell, actually. good show.

That crew that was on the show did the tower work last summer where I work. They pulled down the old batwing VHF transmission antenna, all the transmission line, put up a new slot antenna for UHF and new line. These guys are pretty cool to work with, real friendly bunch who lived on site with their families in very nice trailers. Not uncommon to be invited to have a beer or six after work or sample some chicken.

When they were working, if you heard HEADACHE HEADACHE HEADACHE on the radio, you were to run toward the base of the tower. Someone dropped a tool or a part and it was on its way down. I've forgotten the rest of the lingo.

[W2NAP]

That crew that was on the show did the tower work last summer where I work. They pulled down the old batwing VHF transmission antenna, all the transmission line, put up a new slot antenna for UHF and new line. These guys are pretty cool to work with, real friendly bunch who lived on site with their families in very nice trailers. Not uncommon to be invited to have a beer or six after work or sample some chicken.

When they were working, if you heard HEADACHE HEADACHE HEADACHE on the radio, you were to run toward the base of the tower. Someone dropped a tool or a part and it was on its way down. I've forgotten the rest of the lingo.

if i was up there and dropped a tool, it would sound more like F*ck f*ck f*ck damnit

[WA4TM]

You physics people, here is something for you.

A ball of poop, roughly 1" in diameter is released from a height of 1600ft. There is no wind or other atmospheric conditions to influence the ball. What would the speed of said ball be at impact and how big would the skid mark be on the ground. The ground surface is smooth concrete.

If it were me that released the 1" ball of poop, the skid mark would be 1600 feet long, because I would be holding on so tight it would be released "against" the tower leg and would just slide all the way to the ground!!!!:lol:

BTW.. There is not a gun in the world big enough to convince me to go to the top of the tower in the video!!!!!!!!:nono:

[W4GPL]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_hFNjNuGP4

Updated video due to copyright infringement.

[NA4BH]

If it were me that released the 1" ball of poop, the skid mark would be 1600 feet long, because I would be holding on so tight it would be released "against" the tower leg and would just slide all the way to the ground!!!!:lol:

BTW.. There is not a gun in the world big enough to convince me to go to the top of the tower in the video!!!!!!!!:nono:

I can work with you.

[KE7DKN]

You physics people, here is something for you.

A ball of poop, roughly 1" in diameter is released from a height of 1600ft. There is no wind or other atmospheric conditions to influence the ball. What would the speed of said ball be at impact and how big would the skid mark be on the ground. The ground surface is smooth concrete.

What would be the mass (or density) of said ball of poop?

[NA4BH]

What would be the mass (or density) of said ball of poop?

Just given as a constant. breakfast at Denny's. The mega bar. :lol: :lol:

[KA5PIU]

Hello.

Tower work led me to construction, or vis a vis.
I have seen total idiots on construction equipment, but tower workers are far more together than that.
Anyone can run a bulldozer, and what some construction companies hire proves that.
But not just anyone can run a crane, at least not for long.
Same with tower work.
I have the greatest respect for tower workers and would love to ignore site workers.

[ki4itv]

Just given as a constant. breakfast at Denny's. The mega bar. :lol: :lol:

Loose meat shower?
You did say Denny's, right?
:neener:

[W4RLR]

Where was that tower? The TV station I worked at before joining the Air Force had a tower that was right next to another one like in that video. I commented to the chief engineer that if something happened to our tower, it would probably take down the other one, and he agreed. Sure enough, twenty years later, a helicopter struck the tower, and when Controlled Demolition tried to bring it down a few days later, the guy wires wrapped around those of the other tower and brought the other tower down in less than fifteen seconds.

The two stations affected now share a single tower.

[K7SGJ]

You physics people, here is something for you.

A ball of poop, roughly 1" in diameter is released from a height of 1600ft. There is no wind or other atmospheric conditions to influence the ball. What would the speed of said ball be at impact and how big would the skid mark be on the ground. The ground surface is smooth concrete.

I'm still working on it. I finally got my shit together (1" ball per spec) dropped from prescribed altitude in windless atmosphere(almost windless as it did break once or twice but not enough to affect the experiment) . It was launched 17 minutes after your post, around 1345 hrs. It hasn't hit yet. Details to follow, film at ten.