K6NR US-Tower TX-455 Installation  -- July, 2002

Part 1 - The Hole


Tower site

Here's the "before picture" - the tower site marked off for "pre-inspection" by the County of San Bernardino (California).  They need to ensure that no protected vegetation would be harmed by the planned construction :-)  There is NO VEGETATION so I'm good. The site is located 100' behind the house, 70' from the  South and East fences - even if the tower came over, it would fall within my property and away from all structures.


 

Backhoe arriving
backhoe digging
The backhoe arrives
Digging begins...
backhoe digging more
Initial hole
Quicker than me and my shovel... took about 20 minutes
Result after backhoe - wider/longer than its supposed to be, so I took no chances with the depth - will finish by hand.
Dana in the hole
Brian in the hole
K6NR in the hole - we finished digging by hand and removed all loose dirt.
Brother Brian, NJ6N (ex KA6CCF) helped finish the hole - the electric jack hammer/shovel sure helped.
Malcolm in the hole
Inside the hole
After working on the hole off and on during the IARU weekend Friday night and Saturday, in near 100 degree heat, we called in reenforcements.  Here's brother Malcolm, KF6GZH, on Sunday morning.  He finished the job in fine style!

Here's what the hole looked like from the inside after we were done - those edges are pretty square.


On to Part 2 - the Tower Foundation