After replacing a burned-out FM antenna for one of our clients, the question became; what do we do with the old antenna? There were several options:
- Throw it behind the transmitter building and let weeds and poison ivy grow over it
- Take it to the scrap yard to get whatever money we could for it
- Give it away to somebody
- Turn it into a fountain
I have scrapped these old antennas before, they are made mostly of hard yellow brass, which does not net too much at the scrap yard. In fact, by the time I finished removing the Radomes and separating the metal, I had more time for the job than it was worth for both myself and the client. Therefore, I present to you the ERI LPX lawn fountain:
Upon completion, my wife and daughter, who are natural-born skeptics, even had kind words to say. It seemed like a simple project at first; enlarge the dry well for the basement sump pumps and install some type of mounting base for the old antenna. It turned into a little more than that.
It took several hours of backbreaking labor, a concrete form, and a few bags of ready-mix concrete to create the mounting base. Several wheelbarrow loads of gravel, some rocks from the old wall in the woods, and a pond pump from the hardware store round out the installation.
I am not sure what else to say.
Impressive. Though I’m sure now there is a way to turn the working fountain back into the most awesome outdoor FM antenna in the neighborhood.
Very cool. One guy where I worked took home one of the small satellite antennas we were getting rid of and made a bird bath out of it.
Buzzword of today: REPURPOSING
And ya get my vote, indeed impressive!
Now, let’s continue the lookout for HV XMFRs…
73 za
Nice!
A most nice Fountain and the only garden fountain ever proofed on a ERI Tower Range. It’s pattern is highly accurate. And no one else owns one.
Very nice! I had a tower fall several weeks ago and several bays worth of Shively antenna are now scattered on the ground…now I have a plan for them.
I have a couple of old incandescent beacon fixtures that have seen various use as lawn ornaments or planters. Gonna put some lamps in one and see if I can get it to flash again…
C band dish conversion
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10201105512273717&set=gm.560562924005359&type=1&theater
Can you imagine a broadcast engineer driving down the street and catching that out of the corner of his/her eye?
While I can appreciate the effort put into making this antenna site visually appealing thus calming NIMBY neighbors I must point out that which are lacking: A fence at the appropriate distance to comply with uncontrolled RFR limits and proper signage. Given the unusual mounting I strongly suggest measurements conducted by an experienced, knowledgeable party with proper instrumentation. 🙂