This page last modified on 2010 May 24

Kemah TX The qth on Lewis Dr was mile from east of Trinity Bay and Clear Lake to north. Kemah was second QTH tower went up and provided many years of operating enjoyment there

some triva on this Wilson 77 foot pole. It is NOT the highest wind rating type tower but being able to crank over was a plus to me. I saw the tower for sale in 88 in the "yellow sheets".
The tower was in SLC and stored. It had never been installed. I think even at that time Wilson had been out of business for awhile.

PURCHASE and 1st transport: I contacted Central Trucking in Amarillo and they said if we could load & unload they would move it. I insisted no fork lifts. They managed the route so it never changed trucks. It was loaded in SLC came through Amarillo to OKC - then back to Amarillo with only the tower. From there it drove out about sixty miles to my qth where local hams helped me unload it (one of them had a truck with a boom & steel cable on it which made it all possible - tnx Mr. King w5gxk)

A fellow who had just bought a boring truck in Amarillo drove over, he wanted to try out his new toy. He said if I'd pay gas ($50) he'd bore the hole. The tower was up in time for CQ WW SSB and I entered 28mhz single band that year with a 105BA. Later the 105ba came down and a TH6 was installed. In 1990 we moved across the state (12 hour drive) and the company I hired on with covered the pole moving. A friend at work that saw how sad I was at not having a tower up had his dad divert a boring truck to my house ($zero) and the tower was up (1991). In that area it was typical to charge $600 to get the truck on site and then $50 a hole after that. I never saw that boring truck. My wife called me at work one Tuesday to say they were done - down 8 feet. Poured concrete that same afternoon. We lived close to the bay and it was easy to hit water and get a good ground there.

Several versions of feeding the tower on 160 were tried.
At one time an aux. pole was attached to the raising fixture and used to hold a 160 dipole.

Midland TX 2002 Midland I had trouble finding a boring machine and finally rented a BIG bit for a company to use to bore the hole. 1st loaded a 204BA and a 15-4CD on the pole. The (two) 204BA came via a Dayton where another Tx ham picked up the yagi and carried it back to Houston for me. (tnx W5MJ Madison) That was a few years ago and the beam was stored until now. Dec. 2004 update. The two monobanders and WTX wind are too much for the guide channel on the tower. The tower will be tilted over for some extensive repairs and a Tribander will go back on top sometime in 2005.
After the guide rails were repaired - about year later the pull up cable busted. Lots of damage to A4S and A3W that were top side at the time Cables were obtained via Kemah hardware and the tower is back in business with A3 in 2009 2010 - MAY - A3 has been removed & installing a A3W & six meter beam

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