On May 25, 2008, some friends came over (again - this has been a multiple step process) to help get my new 3-element SteppIR beam installed.  We started at the inhuman hour of 5:00 a.m. to avoid the heat of the day, which turned out to be a wise choice.

We had previously added an additional 10 feet to the tower, so the beam is a bit over 40 feet up.  I would have liked to go higher, but in my present city lot, a higher height is not feasible.  Two weeks earlier, we made a failed attempt to raise the antenna.  We were close but the gin pole positioning prevented the mast plate from mounting.  In the process of that attempt we also did some minor damage to the SteppIR's motor control cable.

The second time went very smoothly, and my first day's QSO's included some nice DX (Ukraine, Israel, Asiatic Russia, Uruguay), as well as some good 10 meter contacts.  We did not completely finish the job - the tower still needs some guy lines installed to secure it better.

These guys are the best - I'd never have been able to do it without them!  May there always be good propagation for the following hams:  Larry W7LB, Owen AK7AR, Eric KC0AYD, and Ed K6ESS, and my son Ryan, KR7YAN, who pitched in a little.

Click on thumbnail for full-size image:

Eric working on getting the mast plate attached. The whole project would have been impossible without the gin pole. But if it were not for Eric's willingness to spend hours on the tower, the antenna would still be on the ground.	Ed working the tether line. Ryan was on the other side. The tethers helped keep the antenna stay level while it was being pulled up.	Owen and Larry had the really tough job of supervisors. Actually they did the lion's share of the hoisting (via pulleys and gin pole).	The antenna is a lot bigger than the old one.