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Reviews For: AA1K tower climber, Jon Zaimes

Category: Tower and Antenna Installers

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Review Summary For : AA1K tower climber, Jon Zaimes
Reviews: 34MSRP:
Description:
Ham radio tower climber and antenna installer, repairs &
maintainance. Experience with Rohn, Trylon, U.S. Towers
and others. Good experience in finding problems and
providing creative and efficient solution. Methodical
approach to all problems. 40 years experience. Based in
Delaware, willing to travel.
Product is in production
More Info: http://aa1k.us/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
25345
KB3DQE Rating: 2022-12-20
Superior antenna installation work Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Jon and Adam just installed new HF and VHF vertical antennas for me, connected them to my transceivers and got everything properly wired and grounded. I could not have asked for a better experience. They have tremendous knowledge, skill and expertise and are extremely pleasant and courteous to work with, even after spending hours outside in freezing temperatures. Whatever your antenna or equipment needs may be, they will do a professional job and you will be glad you hired them.
N3RS Rating: 2022-10-06
Great work on a complex project Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
John and Adam were hired to remove and replace a 140 foot tower that came down in a freak wind storm. There were 6 Yagis involved and a new 130 foot Rohn 55G tower to replace the 9 Yagis on the 140 foot tower that came down. Jon prepared the cost estimates, lists of parts required for the tower erection, and helped with the selection of Yagis to replace the old reliable ones that were lost. The site is in a heavilly wooded area with no possibility of getting a crane in to do the heavy lifting so that coupled with the uneven and rocky ground at the tower location made it a slow process to get the 13 sections of tower up and those Yagis installed. Work began in late April to remove the wreckage from the tower collapse and the new tower installation began in late May after approval of the insurance company. Jon worked hard fitting my work sessions into his busy schedule and by the end of September the project was completed. It includes a 4 element 40M Yagi, C31XR-JK tribander, three 10M 5 element Yagis and a 2 element JK402-Piccolo 40M Moxon Yagi, a pair of Orion 2800 Rotors and three Prosistel ring rotors. All in time for the contest season as promised at the start! A professional job indeed.
KO3L Rating: 2022-09-14
Great Job removing 48 foot tower Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Jon and his son did a great job taking down my 48 foot tower. I am very happy with their work and will not hesitate to call them again as needed.
W2KV Rating: 2022-02-10
Great job! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The rotor on the 6/2/432 VHF stack at the top of my 120 foot tower broke two weeks before the January VHF contest. I contacted Jon and arranged to have him come and swap in a replacement rotor. Communication with Jon leading up to the job was prompt and thorough. Jon and his son Adam N3TTT showed up on a blustery January day with temps in the 20s. Jon spent most of the day up on the tower. Did I mention that the temps were in the 20s? He swapped out he rotor, cleaned up the cables around the rotor and repaired some HF wires. The new rotor is turning well (even at 4 degrees Sunday morning in the contest). Everything from communication to handling the job was done in a professional manner. I can completely recommend Jon and Adam for any tower jobs you might have.
Dave W2KV
Hopewell, NJ
W4NU Rating: 2022-02-09
REview for AA1K Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
In January of this year Jon and his son Adam came to Atlanta to work on my large HF stack on a Rohn 45G, 100 foot tower. Jon was on the tower from dawn to dusk two days in a row. This stack has a large Optibeam OB21-3 with an 80/75 and 40 meter rotaries above it turned by a prop pitch rotator.

The bolts came loose on the rotor base and the stack was free wheeling. This caused all three coax lines to break along with the 80/75 relay line. Jon tightened down the prop pitch and spliced new lines in place. The array now works very FB.

Having climbed a lot myself in the past I can say that Jon and his son are the very best I have ever seen in 60 plus years of Ham Radio. This job was not cheap but the work was stellar. This job took an individual with a great deal of expertise. In the process Jon took down a Waller Flag antenna (at the bottom of the stack) so I can repair it later on the ground.

I highly recommend AA1K!!! He is the best!!
W0YVA Rating: 2022-02-09
Highly Recommended! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Jon and his son installed a replacement OR-2800 rotator in my rotating tower. He also did some general maintenance and installed a new 6-meter yagi on the tower. Hard working, personable, good communicator. I would recommend him without reservation.

Bob, WØYVA
Great Falls, VA
NW3Y Rating: 2021-10-08
Great! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
AA1K has successfully done tower and antenna work as well as site planning here for years. Knowledgeble, experienced, creative and thorough is how I would describe Jon.

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Earlier 5-star review posted by NW3Y on 2016-07-07

Rotator, turning a 22' chromolly mast kept hanging up at certain rotation points. I thought the two TB3 bearings were shot. Jon went through a series of rotation tests and observations while on the tower and concluded the mast had a small bend in it (not catastrophic) and adjusted the mast seat and top bearing. The mid bearing was "raised" off the mid plate to reduce a possible bending point. Good thing he looked at it, because I had a different plan! Jon saved me time and money.

Jon and Adam removed an older Tri Band antenna today (Oct 7, 2021) and replace it with a newer one on my #2 tower. Planning and execution were done efficiently in a project that had very tight openings due to the many trees on this property. I always enjoy the successful execution of the solutions they can come up with.
K2RET Rating: 2021-09-12
Quality Work Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had my tower up for 5 years. Keeping in mind my tower is Rohn 25G and does not lay over. I had Jon & Adam change my whole antenna array and swap out my old mast for a 2 inch, 22ft chromoly mast on my tower on 10 Sept 2021. They arrived on time at 8am and worked well past sunset. Jon and Adams concern for safety is second to none. Not only do I have a whole new antenna array up after 2 years of planning but they even went the extra mile to check and re-tension my guy cables. I highly recommend Jon, AA1K and Adam, N3TTT for any and all tower work. What they did for me was well worth the money spent. I could not have done it myself... Thanks Again !
W3LWR Rating: 2021-08-01
Great work reasonable price Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I originally called on Jon and Adam to climb my 30-40 yr old tower with a busted mast and 9 el force 12 bream that had not been used for probably 15 yrs. Upon examining the base they found it to be rusted and unsafe to climb and we all decided to drop the tower and haul it away for junk. They then installed a 50 ft new al3 tower with a new JK C-3 triband beam, hooked it all up and made sure all was working correctly. In addition they fixed my AV640 vertical which would not load due to a faulty connector Jon and Adam were always punctual and willing to work even in pouring rain.They charge a reasonable fee for their work which is performed in a professional manner. If i am in need of any kind of work I would not hesitate to call on them again. They may not be the cheapest guys around but they are good and know their stuff.Remember you get what you pay for!
N3EON Rating: 2021-02-24
Return Customer Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Jon and Adam replaced a finicky Ham IV rotor with a new Yaesu G-2800 rotor. They work very well together and solved the mating of the Green Heron controller with the new Yaesu rotor. In the end, their service produced exactly what I wanted and I am once again thoroughly pleased with the quality of their work. Jon and Adam have a wealth of tower/antenna knowledge that even an old-timer like me greatly appreciates. As I said in an earlier review, their services don't come cheap, but they are up to any task regardless of the scale of your project. They are my go-to team because they simply do it right.





Jon returned to fix a structural issue on my tower and touched-up paint loss/rust. As with my first experience, Jon did meticulous and careful work. There are no short-cuts with Jon. He stays until the customer is completely satisfied and ensures everything is working perfectly before he leaves. He is not cheap, but well worth the cost for long-term peace of mind.

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Earlier 5-star review posted by N3EON on 2018-10-13

My purchase of a new rotor control unit led to self-diagnosing a problem with the beam rather than the rotor controller. I was anxious to have an inspection of my tower and beam asap to positively confirm my suspicion. I heard good reports on Jon's work and, surprisingly, Jon responded to my email within a few hours. Even more surprising, Jon said he was available that same day and a few hours later, Jon arrived at my door. With regard to his work, Jon first completed a ground diagnostic of several of my rotor controllers and my beam and concluded the beam needed to be repositioned. Jon recommended that I swap my rebuilt backup rotor while he was up on the tower. Jon found a potentially serious structural issue and improvised a temporary solution and a few days later emailed me with several permanent solutions. Before Jon left he checked that my beam and rotor controller were in sync and the beam was performing as it should with the swapped rotor. Throughout the process, Jon was meticulous in his work and answered all my questions. Suffice it to say, I am a completely satisfied customer. This guy knows his stuff!