Huybers Retirement Adventure: Tower Is Up!

For the past week Ron has been working on getting his tower up so he can play ham radio. It started with Ron digging a 4 ft x 4 ft x 4 ft deep hole in the ground. We are lucky that there wasn't a lot of rocks in the ground like the last place we installed a tower. The dirt is pretty sandy so it is much easier to dig. It was a lot of work for Ron but he was determined to get it done.

After the hole was dug, we ordered a truck to deliver the concrete. The truck rolled into the back yard and poured the cement into the hole. It took about 15 minutes to pour it in from the truck, which was much easier and quicker than Ron trying to mix bags of cement by hand. A couple of other Hams had stopped by to help Ron with the cement. I think they were just as excited to have the tower go up as Ron was.

A few days later, after the cement had set, the tower went up. It goes up in pieces. Ron climbs up the tower then the next piece gets hoisted up by a pulley and Ron bolts it into place, then the next piece goes up etc. By the time the last piece goes up and the antenna is set in place the tower stands about 48 ft high. Then Ron attaches all the cables and hooks it up to the ham radio inside the house.

Yesterday, Ron was checking out his ham radio signals and was talking to people in Russia, Germany, Ireland and Australia just to name a few. He has a lot of fun talking to people all over the world. It’s a great hobby for him and a great way to meet people. You just never know who you will meet and where your lives will take you by making contact with people on Ham Radio. So far it has been great!