GM3WOJ  ZL1CT   Lattice tower information pages

August 2008 - Installation of 2 x BP80 Versatowers at the GM0NAI / GM7R contest station, located on the Black Isle (IO77uo)

22nd August 2008 - preparing the bolt templates and shuttering

gm7r1.jpg (498029 bytes)  carefully measured shuttering and bolt template - all strongly screwed together

gm7r2.jpg (194914 bytes) close-up of bolt mounting - note the nut and washer below, to ensure bolts are held vertically

gm7r3.jpg (497286 bytes)   small wooden packing pieces ensure correct height of bolt ends above surface of concrete

gm7r3a.jpg (318771 bytes)   Jim GM0NAI checking the position of the tower earth strap

gm7r4.jpg (571691 bytes)  one of the Versatower guy stakes

gm7r5.jpg (453430 bytes)   Jim hammering one of the guy stakes in

gm7r6.jpg (507769 bytes)     oops - how to correct a wrongly-aligned tower hole !

25th August 2008 - pouring the concrete for the 2 bases + 6 guy stakes (8 cubic metres of concrete = 19.2 tonnes total)

gm7r7.jpg (415729 bytes)    Andy GM0UDL (red overalls) supervising the pouring of the concrete into the dump truck

gm7r8.jpg (446442 bytes)   Jim using the vibrating poker to level the concrete

gm7r9.jpg (395761 bytes)   Andy GM0UDL and Jim GM0NAI/GM7R - job finished !

gm7r10.jpg (572811 bytes)     one of the 6 guy stakes after concreting

gm7r11.jpg (582269 bytes)    one of the 2 tower bases after concreting

28th September 2008 - installing the tower bases and first sections

nai1.jpg (203824 bytes)    Martin 2M0ALS arriving with the GM7R towers on his trailer - 2 x BP80, 1 x BP60, 3 x 36' mini-towers, 17 x 12' fixed tower sections ( = 204' total ) 

nai2.jpg (423993 bytes)   L to R - Jim, Sahara (Pippa's nephew visiting from S Africa), Martin

nai3.jpg (353050 bytes)    the tower baseplate and post after lowering onto the bolts (Jim tidying up the grouting)

nai4.jpg (363279 bytes)   preparing the second tower - securing the luffing wire and removing the old wires from the sections

nai5.jpg (156013 bytes)   something vertical at last !   Tower #1

nai6.jpg (219497 bytes)    Tower #2

5th October 2008 - wiring up the tower sections

gm7r12.jpg (576642 bytes)    K2550 winch drum with uprated 8mm diameter luffing wire

gm7r13.jpg (636655 bytes)    the uprated 8mm luffing wire runs easily through all the pulleys

gm7r15.jpg (304479 bytes)     Jim raising tower #1 to full height for the first time. Early winter snow on Ben Wyvis in the distance

gm7r14.jpg (471998 bytes)    tower #2 at full height for the first time

More photos of this great project soon ......