Safety First

[KF5CLL]

I've been a HAM for 15 days now and had a near miss with a powerline the other day that reminded me that safety should always come first. As much as the ARRL and folks in our community have reminded us constantly through public service announcements and various literature of the importance of safety, tragically many will be injured and/or killed this year by taking shortcuts.

In my experience, I was bringing a Dipole up on a tree when I caught sight of Powerlines maybe 8 feet away - I didn't realize how close they were! It was then that it dawned on me that this is exactly how bad stories unfold - and that I should always put precaution before fun.

As a consequence of this experience I've re-drawn my antenna layout to put a good amount of space between any powerline activity and have also notched up my safety precautions in general. Just thought I'd share that with ya'll.

73s!
KF5CLL

[AE5JU]

Thank you! This is a reminder we need to hear.

[K0RGR]

Yes, we lose a few every year it seems from getting much too close to powerlines.

There's a really nice 100 foot tree in my back yard. Unfortunately, it's less than 100 feet from a medium voltage power distribution line at the back of my property. So, I do not dare attach an antenna to it, as much as I would love to, and could easily do. Should that tree fall the wrong way, the artificial lightning that would result would be very unhealthy, I'm sure.

[KB3LAZ]

Yea, I wish I could put my tower right outside of the shack so that I could get away with using less feed line (what can I say, I am cheap) but the power line runs from the road to my house right at the shack windows roof top. I looked into having it taken down and run underground but at that point I could buy thousands of feet of feed line.:D

In the end I decided to go the safe route and brace the tower to the garage which is well away from the power main.

Better safe than sorry.

[AG3Y]

I tipped an aluminum ladder up against the side of my house, and when I looked back, I saw that they were only about six feet away from the power lines running down the street! Now I KNOW why professional painters, etc. use fiberglass extension ladders!

73, and keep safety first ! Jim

[KE7RZR]

Thanks for a reminder that can not be repeated too often.