4 inspections

back to 2025.09.27 Mingo to the top

4 inspections 4 inspections:

The first thing noticed is they left the "lift baskets" on the heliax. Sometimes I see those left attached to
the tower to be a permanent support, but in this case they just abandoned them completely, A mix of metal straps
and metal-tabbed zip ties were used to permanently secure and unload the coaxes.

The jacket on the coax to the 2m beam has started cracking, and it's lost a wire tie on the beam, but it all
looks good.

The guy wires are starting to lose their galvanization and rust is setting in. I also noticed the wire lift
rope has been rubbing on one of the guy wires, wearing away the galvanizing on the guy wire.

When the lower 2m bay swung in toward the tower, it did some damage. An angled white PVC pipe that was used
to channel coax to the bay got snapped in two since it was tied to both the boom and the tower when it twisted.
The coax leading to the bottom bay was also bent at least 90 degrees, and I was expecting it to be shorted out.
It tests okay from the ground though, and would be a big headache to repair, so I guess we leave it until it
becomes a problem?

Hardware on the bay brackets was inconsistent, being a mix of double nutting and single nuts with lock-washers.

I paused to unwrap one of the big heliax pigtails to see what condition they were in and what connector they
were using. Both turned out to be Male type "N", and although only lightly wrapped, they were in very good
condition.

Reaching the top, the guy bracket was in good shape, as was the light and power box. The flat braces on the
bracket provided a very appreciated spot to sit and regain some of my stamina.

I got a close look at the pulley at the top. It's got a fair amount of rust on it but appears to be in decent
shape. Same with its chain, it should be safe to use. I'll have to free the wire rope from the tower on the
way down since its attached with wire ties to prevent flapping.


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