07-09-2012, 04:48 PM
Thanks for your reply, Lawrence.
Things here? Not that dissimilar to your activities: outside stuff. As you know, this year has been extraordinarily wet, so a lot of 'outdoor things' didn't get done. But now that the weather has cheered up, there's a backlog of work to attend to - mainly house and garden maintenance.
One unexpected and unplanned item in my list involved my general purpose 'long-wire' aerial. At the rear of the house I have a pole secured to the back wall, the top of which secures one end on that aerial. Now when I put that pole up (many moons ago) I was short of suitable material for such a pole. What I did have was a length of steel pipe, about 1½ in. diameter and another length of a wooden pole about same diameter. I simply joined the two together with a 12" length of copper tube to make one mast: the wooden section was at the lower end and was suitably treated to withstand the weather. A few days ago, whilst sitting in the garden with a cuppa, taking a break from some painting, I noticed that the bottom 6 inches of that wooden pole was sticking out at about 30 degrees: it had rotted through where the U-clamp was securing it.
Fortunately, about one year ago, I 'acquired' a 12 foot aluminium pole from our local ambulance station. They had just completed an aerial refit. I had been looking at this discarded pole lying on the ground by the side of their building for weeks as I passed by and thinking "Hmm". I eventually plucked up the nerve to ask. "Help yourself, mate!" came the reply. So I promptly said "thank you" and scarpered with it, el pronto, before he changed his mind! 
And now I'm glad I did - a perfect and improved replacement mast - and a good deal lighter too.
I must get around to taking a few photos of it and sending them in - after all, a picture says a thousand words.
Ah! A 'few words' have just been voiced from the kitchen!
O.K., tea-break over: back to work.
Al.
Things here? Not that dissimilar to your activities: outside stuff. As you know, this year has been extraordinarily wet, so a lot of 'outdoor things' didn't get done. But now that the weather has cheered up, there's a backlog of work to attend to - mainly house and garden maintenance.
One unexpected and unplanned item in my list involved my general purpose 'long-wire' aerial. At the rear of the house I have a pole secured to the back wall, the top of which secures one end on that aerial. Now when I put that pole up (many moons ago) I was short of suitable material for such a pole. What I did have was a length of steel pipe, about 1½ in. diameter and another length of a wooden pole about same diameter. I simply joined the two together with a 12" length of copper tube to make one mast: the wooden section was at the lower end and was suitably treated to withstand the weather. A few days ago, whilst sitting in the garden with a cuppa, taking a break from some painting, I noticed that the bottom 6 inches of that wooden pole was sticking out at about 30 degrees: it had rotted through where the U-clamp was securing it.
Fortunately, about one year ago, I 'acquired' a 12 foot aluminium pole from our local ambulance station. They had just completed an aerial refit. I had been looking at this discarded pole lying on the ground by the side of their building for weeks as I passed by and thinking "Hmm". I eventually plucked up the nerve to ask. "Help yourself, mate!" came the reply. So I promptly said "thank you" and scarpered with it, el pronto, before he changed his mind! And now I'm glad I did - a perfect and improved replacement mast - and a good deal lighter too.I must get around to taking a few photos of it and sending them in - after all, a picture says a thousand words.
Ah! A 'few words' have just been voiced from the kitchen!
O.K., tea-break over: back to work.
Al.
