Thanks, HDTV101. The goal of this second DMX 68' project was to keep it as affordable as possible (unlike my own initial project; where much of it was new). With a lot of patience over the past few months, we were able to get some great deals. We saved money by getting a used tower, and doing the concrete work ourselves (rather than delivery).

The rotor, for example, included nearly 100' of cable. And despite being manufactured in August 1977 (date stamped on the bottom), it's in fine mechanical shape and works great--for less than $200 on Kijiji. Surprisingly, the rotor/control box design varys little from a brand new model of the same rotor sold today.

Gerrit77, if you look at the non-metallic couplers at the base of each element (with binoculars?) and they are blue with the letter "A" on them, your antenna is an AntennaCraft. If the couplers are black and have the letter "A" on them it is a Radio Shack VU-series. Either way, those are the same antenna model, probably a VU-190. If you cannot make out the letter "A" I'm still pretty certain that's the model.

Stampeder, thanks for the information and for putting my pics in the right thread - I'm obviously still learning the ropes on this forum!

I appreciate it.

The fun thing is that no matter how long you've been at it, the OTA learning never stops! :)

There has been some conflicting information regarding which side to place the nuts on DMX towers from Delhi: Their older instructions depict the lock washer and nut should be placed on the inside of the tower, while newer instructions indicate the outside. After confirming with Delhi, it appears that lock washers and nuts are best installed on the outside of the tower.

http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/8641/01040015.jpg (http://img69.imageshack.us/i/01040015.jpg/)

I recommend using a Web Rebar Assembly for positioning on a tower, and freeing up both hands. However, for about the same price, you can put together your own positioning system at your local outdoor supply store that sells climbing equipment (eg. "Mountain Equipment Coop"). A large self-locking carabiner, plus two smaller locking carabiners, and a sling. The sling depicted here--although thin--is actually rated for more tensile strength (27kN) than the carabiners.

http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/7518/01040019.jpg (http://img5.imageshack.us/i/01040019.jpg/)

I also use a DBI Sala Harness: Extremely easy to get into, and makes you feel very secure.

http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/7441/01040018j.jpg (http://img5.imageshack.us/i/01040018j.jpg/)

Sorry Balm, no pics in the camera of me climbing the tower and pulling up sections. Next time for sure. ;)

http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/4700/01040014.jpg (http://img14.imageshack.us/i/01040014.jpg/)

Yes, that's a 91-XG at the top. We considered a CM4228HD, but apparently these aren't recommended for tower installations (too much wind load?).

http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/8994/01040013.jpg (http://img94.imageshack.us/i/01040013.jpg/)



One note about the 91-XG installation if you plan to use one yourself: Put the directors on the boom at the top of the tower! They're incredibly delicate, and can easily bend and break if they brush against the tower while you're pulling up the mast/antenna assembly by rope. It's not difficult to install the directors while positioned at the top of the tower. And it will save you the headache of a top of the tower repair job...

http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/601/01040003.jpg (http://img14.imageshack.us/i/01040003.jpg/)

Hi folks, just wondering, which of these two antenna's would you recommend..
it's for my lcd tv that i have in the solarium....

the first one is the terk 1080i antenna..here is a link to a pic

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_3g7oWUXOMIs/SRRIRJZfztI/AAAAAAAAAH8/TF_QYfFYvZE/s320/Terk+Hdtv+Antenna.jpg

and the other is an external entenna that hooks to an existing satalite dish..
here's the link for it..


http://www.acceselectronique.ca/lesite/product.php?id_product=2353

what i like about the terk on is that it's a quick setup but it's internal, so i'm worried it might not pick up as much..on the other hand,the second one needs to be hooked up and i have to fish the coax cable...

any thoughts?
thanks
fabs

You can look up Jase88's reception results here:

ON - Kitchener, Waterloo, Guelph, Cambridge, Bruce Peninsula (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=94075)

:)

Very nice jase88. Man I'm getting a bout of height vertigo just looking at your pics in #507!

Very nice jase88. Man I'm getting a bout of height vertigo just looking at your pics in #507!
A neighbour to the install location approached me after the tower work was completed: She told me that she had to close her blinds, as she couldn't stomach the view of me up the tower. The tower moves a fair amount when you're at the top...and this movement was most disconcerting for her. ;)

That's an excellent point, the conductivity of ice is next to nothing so if you are only a foot down then from December to March you won't be grounded at all.And we've all seen thunderstorms in January. There's no such thing as too safe, especially when it comes to lightning.

Thanks Jase88. I have 4 * DMX 48s stored in my garage and was wondering how to go about the task of installing one. A good example!

There has been some conflicting information regarding which side to place the nuts on DMX towers from Delhiwatch those DMX bolts... check them every month!

Take a look at this site http://www.ve1dx.net/fall_down.html
http://www.ve1dx.net/Images/ZZ_Tower_4.jpg

HDTV101: Interesting find! Though I don't believe his tower is the Heavy Duty model...it looks like the standard DMX48. He may have overloaded it. Many people forget about the stresses freezing rain can exert on a tower/antenna structure.

Nonetheless, good advice. And I've been careful to check the bolts with binoculars regularly--as well as checking to ensure the base is still plumb.

On his web page he says:These pictures were taken around 4:00 PM on 1 March 2005 . . . the wind blew the tower over and it snapped at the joint of the 1st and 2nd section. This was a Delhi DMX-48-HD tower (48 feet - 14.6 metres) in height, and it had a Wilson SY-2 HF tri-band Yagi beam on the top. It also held two VHF/UHF antennas, a 4 element 2-metre Yagi and a dual band Comet GP-9 vertical.It appears that either over night during 80-90 km gusts (or in during the week or two following up to then) the nuts threaded off the bolts on one tower leg due to some sort of vibration or harmonic oscillation. While the loose bolts were the primary cause of the problem, there was some ice build-up that morning due to a period of freezing rain, and that may have contributed to the stress on the tower.Maybe threading a second nut onto the bolt ends might be a good idea. Anyone tried that, or is there enough thread left for it to get a bite on?

There's not enough thread on the lower bolts to put a second nut on...
Of course you could always buy longer bolts of the same grade.

Each nut comes with a lock washer...I wonder if these were missing on this install?

The other possibility--that wasn't considered--is sabotage. Unfortunately, there are people out there that don't like HAM arrays; especially ones that generate interference with cheap consumer electronics. Odd that a bolt assembly with the least amount of movement on the tower (and close to the ground) failed. I'm not an expert on the effects of vibration, but one would think such energy would impact lighter parts of the tower closer to the array generating the vibration....and that any vibration would attenuate as it got closer to the base.

I am using a Wingard 9032 on top of a 15 foot mast ontop of my house roof chimney mount for CICT-DT. The signal strength shows 78 right now. Can't say that this is different to last year. What I do notice is that at night, this sometimes falls to around 68 - 71 but I detect no difference over a longer timeframe. The CFCN-DT signal is usually between 68 - 71 normally, received from a CM 4228 antenna mounted 10 feet above my other house roof chimney mount. Both signals permit excellent reception without any picture breakup. TV is a Sharp Aquos 52" 1080P, 120 Hz vertical scan receiver, fitted with an ATSC tuner.

TVfool Ref:-
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d27ee954ef5b198

Channels 32 and 38 are very strong but suffer slight reflections due to UHF antenna signal mixing before the DA. I am using a UHF filter trap Winegard UT-2700 for extracting channel 41 from the EAST pointing antenna.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/picture.php?albumid=463&pictureid=2154

There are two backup antennas mounted on the mast in the foreground. All others are in service for Calgary TV including CICT-DT and CFCN-DT. The mast is going to be replaced with a larger diameter one and so are the supporting brackets. Overall height is 12 1/2 feet over the welded steel support frame. The DAT75 is exactly pointing at the CFCN mast.

The background mast carries the CM4228 and receives UHF from the WEST. It is aligned to the CBC mast. The CFCN UHF transmission antenna can be seen from the roof.

The visible foreground cable is for Shaw and is not currently used.

Billsmith, very soon when CICT-DT (Global) moves to Broadcast Hill where all the other Calgary stations are, which antenna(s) will you keep and which will you take down?