Greetings fellow NARS members! I hope everyone is well and safely ensconced in the shack chair and on the air. I’m sorry that I missed K1IR’s presentation on tower safety. I’ve known Jim for many years from the Yankee Clipper Contest Club (YCCC) and the Billerica Amateur Radio Society (BARS). Jim has built a competitive station and he introduced me to the “star” method of guying a tower that is more robust than the usual turnbuckle 3-point approach many of us use. While making sure a tower is stable and well-engineered, there is much more to tower safety, as I’m sure Jim pointed out. My story is how things can go terribly wrong.

I had an incident ten years ago while doing tower work that was very serious. Long-time members of NARS may remember what happened but, given the huge growth of new members in the club, I thought it would be worthwhile to retell my tower story. In mid-May 2011, Jerry, K0TV (SK) asked me to help with an ambitious project to install several beams on one of his towers. Jerry was an avid contester who believed that hams should use ALL the bands available to them. This means 432 MHz, 928 MHz, 1296 MHz, and other nose bleed bands. To that end, Jerry wanted to install a 432 MHz quad yagi, a 1296 corkscrew quad yagi, a pair of 928 yagis and a good old 144 MHz yagi. The plan was to install them in a tree fashion on the mast above his 15-meter monobander. As if this wasn’t enough, there was a junction box near the top of the tower with a Medusan tangle of coax jumpers for routing signals to the beams.

I was well-known in the club for readily climbing towers and working on beams in all kinds of weather. I often wonder if I qualified for the 1,000,000 climbing feet award. Just ask anyone who worked with me during years of Field Day installations. Along the way, I picked up a lot of necessary safety habits for working on towers. Contrary to what one might think, I am NOT comfortable at heights. I may be wiry and fit but my heightened awareness of where I am has made me conscious of being careful and deliberate. (This is an axiom everyone should follow in tower work.) So I climb with two belts, always have three points of contact with the tower, and make sure I’m secure before freeing both hands. Sounds simple but complacency can be fatal.

So back to the story. I had been at the top of the tower for over an hour having worked on the junction box cabling and re-positioning the box so I could work on the beams. The weather was a sunny and warm NH day and I was getting hot. I was also getting hot emotionally after having wrestled one of the new antennas in place above the 15-meter beam. It was now time to raise the mast and lower the 15-meter beam to install the next antenna. In order to raise the mast, we installed a lifting plate below the loosened 15-meter beam so that the Ginpole could raise everything once the thrust bearings were loosened. By now I was sweating from the warmth and getting more irritated with the close quarters. I secured the Ginpole hook to what I thought was the lifting plate. It was the 15-meter boom instead. I called down for tension on the Ginpole rope as I loosened the thrust bearing bolts. Down like a guillotine came the mast. The lifting plate slammed on my right index finger, crushing it against the top of the tower platform.

My screams made everyone jump, including the neighborhood. I frantically yelled for more tension on the rope, not realizing it would accomplish nothing. I had to somehow raise the mast to free my hand so I yelled for a crowbar. I managed to lower the Ginpole rope and have the bar sent up. I was able to leverage the lifting plate enough to get my hand out. Now I had to use my damaged hand to unbelt and re-belt myself and get down from 90 feet. It was a slow and agonizing descent but I made it. An ambulance crew was waiting for me and cut off my work glove before taking me to the hospital in Nashua.

The attending physician said there was little he could do and may have to amputate my finger. THAT did not sit well with me. He made some calls and miraculously found surgeons at Mass General willing to come in on a Saturday to see what could be done. It was off to Boston in the ambulance that bobbed and weaved with Siren going in the wonderful maze that is downtown Boston. (I remember the driver saying he was only flipped off twice.)

I went through the usual endless questioning and note-taking that an emergency room requires. I met with the two surgeons still in their weekend attire who examined my finger while ordering an operating room preparation. What struck me was that both looked like they were younger than 30. I had heard of Mass General’s reputation as a top-notch hospital so I wasn’t worried. These two had to be really good at microsurgery.

After seven hours or so in surgery, I came to and saw my right arm covered from the elbow to my hand. The doctors said everything went well (don’t they always say that?) and the covering was to allow warm air from a heater to aid blood flow to my finger while I recovered. I spent the next three days in a hot room to keep the blood flowing. It so happens that an early heat wave rolled through Boston as Memorial Day approached so I don’t why they could not just open the windows. Finally, I was moved to a semi-private room with normal temperatures. Another doctor (also young) came by to unveil the bandages and examine my finger. Seeing it for the first time since my accident, it looked like an ugly pickle. He whipped out his cell phone and took a picture of “how nice it looked”. I could pass up the chance – I asked him if he was going to use it for a pick-up line when off-duty.

Jerry came by to see me while I was in the hospital. Jerry, being Jerry, quipped that it was a good thing it was not my middle finger. People would think twice about asking me what happened. I was able to regain the use of my index finger thanks to the skill of the surgeons. I can’t close my right hand in a fist but I’m left-handed anyway. I look at my finger and have an idea of what my digits will look like in another 20 years.

While I was convalescing I learned that my accident was one of the worse things to happen during tower work, falling being the absolute worst. What can I say about it all? It is this (1) climb with a buddy if possible; (2) take your HT or phone up with you and stay in communication with the ground to avoid yelling and a miscommunication; and (3) keep a lid on your emotions and QUIT if getting irritated or tired.

73 de Ed, K2TE