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06 April, 2009

WIFI Tower of Power

I talked to Mae this morning. She and Craig are over in San Pedro for a bit along with their niece and her friend. I had called them to see if the house across from our place had rented or not. It had, but that wasn't the news.

Mae told me while they were out dining and such, they had left a window open on their second-floor rooms. It was too tempting a target for someone. They (the perps) jimmied the screen and ripped off a couple of iPods, a camera and some small amount of cash.

Nice way to dampen an otherwise perfect weekend, I'm sure. At least no one got hurt.

Anyway, after that bit of news, Mae told me the place had rented, so that decided my next project - between the pool waterfall or the antenna tower. Antenna tower it is.

I boogied (I guess that's an archaic word now) down to National Hardware where I bought a 20-foot 2" diameter fence pole, a threaded flange, a 6" threaded pipe, and various fittings.

Here's the flange and 6" piece of pipe threaded together. Once I get the flange secured to the retaining wall (you can see the marks for drilling right beside the flange) I'll add the antenna and cable, stuff the pole down into the base, add and tension the guy wires and hook the thing up to the router and see what happens.
Flange and 6" Pipe
Here's the clamps and turnbuckles to tension the guy wires.
Clamps and Turnbuckles
I added a cap to the pipe to prevent rain from entering the pipe. Hopefully, that will prolong thelife of the pole.
Pole Cap
Twenty feet is a long way. I just moved the pipe into the shade. I had to wear gloves as the metal had gotten so hot in the sun that it was close to burning my bare hands.
Twenty-Foot Pole
There's a bit more to add. I need to get some grounding wire and clamps, a grounding rod to attach from the pole to the rod; about 80' of 3/16" aircraft cable to support the tower.

I also need to mount the antenna onto the pole and make sure it works.

Even before that, I have to drill through the soffit of the house so I can run the antenna cable from the router to the outside.

It's going to be a busy morning tomorrow.

In the meantime, it's 2:00 PM, pool and beer time by my watch.

Cheers,
Dave

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Too bad about the robbery. It just shows the opportunistic nature of thefts. People are watching. I suspect they go in one of the non-burglar bared windows. I think I need to come there and guard the place, especially now that the Wifi antenna is up.
Vivien

Anonymous said...

Correction- I meant burglar barred, not burglar bared, oops.
Vivien

Dave Rider said...

It's not up yet. But soon - if I have all the parts. Now that I actually have the antenna on hand, I can read the manual and determine if I have or can get everything I need. Hopefully, nothing from stateside is needed. We'll see. I should know sometime today if I have everything or not.
Cheers,
Dave