May 17, 2014 Tower Trailer Construction Begins

Good Morning Everyone.

Now that the weather has begun to improve to the point where working outside is acceptable, Kelly, K7SU and I have started the building process on the Tower Trailer. Yesterday we welded (or I should say Kelly welded) the outrigger supports to the frame. Next will be the vertical supports that will support the tower and tilt over mechanism. If the general population of the reflector would like, I will continue to furnish updates/pictures as the build process proceeds.

Jim
W7OUU
Pres. MVARC

May 17, 2014 Tower Trailer construction

Today Kelly, K7SU and I fabricated the vertical section of the trailer where the tower will live. Next will be to install the bracing for the vertical structure. Following that will be fabrication of the tilt over cradle and installation of the tower. More updates will follow.

73s

Jim
W7OUU
Pres. MVARC

May 19, 2014 Tower Trailer construction

Hello everyone.

Today Kelly, K7SU and I cut and installed the aft and side braces to the vertical structure. Next session we will focus on the forward braces for the vertical structure and also begin construction on the tilt over frame which will cradle the tower. The project is proceeding nicely and according to design. No surprises to this point.

Jim
W7OUU
Pres. MVARC

May 20, 2014 Tower Trailer construction

Today was another productive fabrication day. Yesterday not so much. Today Kelly and I spent the afternoon between D&B and Pacific Steel procuring the remainder of the steel required to complete our tower trailer along with some other items needed. Today was a different story however. The forward brace supports were measured, cut and welded into position. This completes the primary tower support system. With the help of Kelly’s tractor and forklift attachment we moved the tower onto the trailer to check our center of gravity and balance. It met the design criteria so we are good to go in that respect. Tomorrow the plan is to fabricate the tower cradle and take a look at all the welded areas to make sure we didn’t miss anything. More to follow...

Jim
W7OUU
Pres. MVARC

May 21, 2014 Tower Trailer construction

Today, May 21, 2014 was another productive fabrication day. Yesterday not so much. Yesterday Kelly and I spent the afternoon between D&B and Pacific steel procuring the remainder of the steel required to complete our tower trailer along with some other items needed. Today was a different story however. The forward brace supports were measured, cut and welded into position. This completes the primary tower support system. With the help of Kelly’s tractor and forklift attachment we moved the tower onto the trailer to check our center of gravity and balance. It met the design criteria so we are good to go in that respect. Tomorrow the plan is to fabricate the tower cradle and take a look at all the welded areas to make sure we didn’t miss anything. More to follow...

Jim
W7OUU
Pres. MVARC

May 22, 2014 Tower Trailer construction

Today we installed the outrigger jacks. The next part of fabrication will be installing the tower on the trailer. We had great supervision today from Steve, K7WKR and Terry, AD7P who dropped by after lunch at the airport. More to follow...

Jim
W7OUU
Pres. MVARC

May 29, 2014 Tower Trailer construction

As you can see from the pictures, today we completed the pivot point and tower cradle assemblies. This part of the project took a little longer than anticipated due to the number of holes that needed to be drilled in the angle irons with emphasis on accuracy. These assemblies and their bolts are somewhat like the bolts that hold together the rotor assembly on a helicopter. I (in my other life) and many others fondly refer to them as Jesus bolts. If they break....well , you get the picture. By the way, they are stainless steel and the pivot rod is solid hardened steel. In our next session we will install the tower. Getting clos.. More to follow...

PS. Thanks George, W7HDL for your donation of the lights. They arrived today.

Jim
W7OUU
Pres. MVARC

May 30, 2014 Tower Trailer construction

Well today we installed the tower as you can see in the pictures. It went exactly as planned. Using Kelly’s tractor with fork lift attachment we raised the tower into position and bolted it into position. After we got the tower mounted we then fit, installed, welded the base attachments that will keep it in place when in the vertical position. There is still some work to be done like installing the winch and cable for raising along with some other items but the tough work is pretty much behind us. The design Kelly and I came up with as of yet has not provided us with any surprises that we haven't been able to resolve. BTW one person can move the tower from the horizontal position to vertical without a lot of effort, but we will have a winch and cable to take care of that task more safely. The CG is pretty much where we figured it would be. More to follow...

73s
Jim W7OUU, Pres. MVARC

May 30, 2014 Tower Trailer construction

This is the Photoshop proposed paint scheme (with a black base) submitted by Bob, KC7QR to match the Magic Valley Amateur Radio Club's logo.

May 31, 2014 Tower Trailer construction

Hello Everyone,

Today Kelly and I installed the winch system that moves the tower from the horizontal transport position to the vertical operational position. It performed as designed. No surprises. The tower trailer is now fully functional. More to follow....

Jim
W7OUU
Pres. MVARC

We also constructed the rear outrigger.
Kelly Klaas

June 2, 2014 Tower Trailer construction

Hello Everyone,

Today was another good day for tower/trailer building. We spent a good portion of the afternoon acquiring the safety chain/attachments and fenders for that part of the project. We installed the safety chains on the front and rear of the trailer for safe transport. The new tongue jack and safety chains were installed also. In addition we fabricated the attachment brackets for one fender and it was installed. The plan for our next work session will be to fabricate the brackets and install the remaining fender. More to follow...


Jim
W7OUU
Pres. MVARC

June 4, 2014 Tower Trailer construction

First off, thanks Dick W7GDA, for you generous donation towards the painting of the tower/trailer. And, thanks to Steve, K7WKR for his offer to coordinate the painting effort. That’s not to imply that Steve is going to or is expected to prep/paint the tower/trailer by himself. The tower/trailer will get painted when enough volunteers step forward to make it happen. I hope that would happen in a reasonable amount of time.

The tower/trailer project is almost complete at this time. All major mechanical work has been completed. Today we fabricated/welded the brackets and mounted the remaining fender. We also drilled all the outriggers to accept the ball lock pins for both deployed and transport positions and installed said pins. We installed the running lights and license plate bracket. The lights still need to be wired but I believe we have a volunteer for that and we have all the needed parts for that part of the project. In the next few days I will pull both wheels and inspect and repack the wheel bearings. Bob, KF7SVI, has volunteered a truck box and that will get mounted at the front of the tower/trailer as soon as we get some dimensions to work with. As the tower/trailer sets right now it is operational but still needs to be fine tuned so to speak.

Unfortunately we were not able to use the lights that George, W7HDL so generously donated. It would have required making plates for them to be mounted and drilling very large holes in those plates. We opted for a simple light kit from Harbor Freight which only required 2 holes and mounted to the rear cross member which also included the license plate holder and required light.

Just one final note. It has been a pleasure working with Kelly on this project. Had it not been for his welding equipment and so many other tools like a killer drill press, grinding wheel, cut off wheels and most importantly the tractor with a fork lift attachment this would have been a daunting endeavor. Kelly did all the welding and let me tell ya there is a lot of welds on that baby. But the best part was that we had fun doing it. What a blast!

73s
Jim W7OUU, Pres. MVARC

June 6, 2014 Tower Trailer construction

The tower/trailer is officially operational. We have installed the new rotor plate and the clubs rotor. After a small repair of the cable, the rotor and mast operate as it should. It is ready to accept antennas. Kelly hooked up and we checked the lighting system and everything worked. The license plate was installed and it is now road ready. It was moved behind Kelly's home for final check out and we fully deployed the system. Again, no surprises.

Steve K7WKR is heading up the paint team and I believe he is still looking for volunteers. Any help would be much appreciated.

Jim
W7OUU
Pres, MVARC

June 8, 2014 Tower Trailer construction

Painters...
Steve, K7WKR
Doc., AC7M
Kelly, K7SU
Yellow is applied.
Now getting ready to apply the black.
It will look like a yellowjacket when we are done.
Kelly Klaas

Thanks to the prep and paint crew...
Doc, AC7M
Steve, K7WKR
Kelly, K7SU

June 9, 2014 Tower Trailer construction

Club Members:

The Bumblebee painting is done except for a little touchup.

Kudos go to Kelly for the inspiration after the outriggers were painted -- to paint the bumper, fenders, and side mounts the same gloss yellow. (It helped that there was still paint in the yellow can!)

Steve, K7WKR

June 15, 2014 Tower Trailer construction

Bob Rodman, KF7SVI ( I think soon to be N7SVI) brought down a pickup tool box and donated it to the club for the tower trailer. I got it cleaned up and painted. It is not permanently mounted but it will be mounted as you see in the picture. I will get out the welder, torch and touchup paint and get it mounted next week.

Thanks Bob!



Kelly Klaas
Amateur Radio Station K7SU
Kelly@K7SU.com