Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes

Reviews For: AA1K tower climber, Jon Zaimes

Category: Tower and Antenna Installers

eMail Subscription

Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted.
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
K3ZXP Rating: 2020-08-28
Outstanding Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Jon and his son Adam just finished the installation of a 20 year old tower, Summer antenna, dipole with open wire feeders and 6 meter beam. I’d had been off the air for 20 years and can’t tell you how happy I am. Everything was installed very carefully and precisely. No corners were cut. If you want an installation that you can be proud of and that will last Jon is your man. He has the experience and knowledge to guide you in the right direction. He went above and beyond what I expected and tested out my station and guided me how to proceed. If you want it done right just hire Jon. You won’ t be sorry
AA4V Rating: 2020-03-06
AA1K Tower Service...Simply the best Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I own a rather old UST MA550MRB motorized telescoping tower. I have rebuilt it several times since installing it in 1999. Due to a series of medical problems over the past several years, I Am unable to do the physical work anymore. Last year, with the help of two good friends, we took the entire tower apart, recabled with new galvanized steel rope and had the motor drive rebuilt at a local machine shop. It was put back together, including a new 3 element SteppIR yagi. Unfortunately, after 6 months of good service, the tower got stuck about half way up. I was unable to lower it or raise it.
I started to look around for a professional tower repairman to sort it out once and for all. Jon Zaimes, AA1K and his son, Adam, agreed to make the long drive from Delaware to my location near Charleston, SC. They left early on a Sunday morning arrive at my QTH at 3:45pm. Rather than rest after a long drive, they immediately started dismantling the beam and tower. They worked until dark reappearing at 7:30am to continue the work. By the end of the day, they had repaired the problem (the cable had jumped out of the sheave and wedged tightly). In addition to the cable problem, they added retainer washers that kept the cable on the pulley and reworked the mast attachment to the tower. The whole job took 10 hours.
Jon and Adam are consummate professionals. Their charges were very reasonable. It was a pleasure working with them. I HIGHLY recommend their services.
KB3QCPDG Rating: 2020-01-12
awesome guys Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
jon and his son adam climbed my tower took antenna down to tune it PROPERLY!!! they do fantastic work!I live within 15 miles of both of them here in Delaware. so lucky. very meticulous on there work. they go the extra mile. Do not hesitate to get them to work on your antennas. They also installed an 80 meter dipole same day. no one will ever work on my antennas except jon and adam!! thanks guys so much. kb3qp doug Wyoming de
AA3R Rating: 2019-12-25
Simply the best Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Both Jon and his son Adam came on time and were meticulous to the nth degree...he also helped out a childhood friend who is also a ham....these two are SIMPLY THE BEST when it comes to anything Amateur radio related!! I also have the pleasure of living close to these two craftsmen!!
W2TV Rating: 2019-11-22
Hard working, knowledgeable and safe! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
During Sweepstakes my Cushcraft A-4S started behaving erratically with high SWR on all bands. I contacted Jon, AA1K, on Tuesday and he and his assistant and son, Adam, were able to tackle the work on Thursday. They arrived at 0710 and went to work. Jon hypothesized, based on the SWR readings I had provided, that the problem was a 10 meter trap. They began with an inspection of my Glen Martin roof top tower and found and tightened some loose hardware. He then took a set of readings at the tower and validated what I had found. After removing the rotor and dropping the mast they were able to remove the driven element. Working on the ground they were quickly able to identify corrosion at a 10m trap coil connection. They cleaned that up and then inspected, and repaired as necessary, all traps on the driven element. Then they put everything back together, aligned the elements and did final testing. All was well.

Not only were these guys knowledgeable they were skilled and safety was paramount. Jon put safety above all else including wearing a hard hat with a chinstrap.

AA1K is highly recommended as a tower climber and an antenna repairer. You will no be disappointed.
WB2JUF Rating: 2019-08-29
Awesome Rooftop Tower Install Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
My first directional (beam) antenna in 47 years of hamming. The Bands are terrible, but I am happy anyway! All thanks to good planning and to Jon and Adam Zaimes professional services.

I endured 6 months of hassle with my town's Building and Zoning departments; had to get an architect, a permit, an electrician, inspections....but I prevailed. All legal ! All during that waiting period, Jon Zaimes, AA1K was available by email and phone to offer advice. He spent a few times on the phone with me while we viewed Googlemaps satellite images of my QTH, figuring out how the installation would go, so that I could convey proper info to the architect.

The weather didn't cooperate for our scheduled early June install, so I suggested the only other weekend I had open - Field Day weekend. I had completely forgotten about it! Initially, Jon declined that weekend, (he is a major contester after all!!!). But I think he must have sensed my disappointment, because an hour or two later I got an email saying that they would come that weekend. That might not be a big deal for a lot of hams, but for a big contester like Jon, that was the ultimate act of Ham brotherhood!


Jon and his son Adam spent 1 1/2 days installing my new roof tower, a Mosley 4 element HF beam, 6m Moxon and VHF/UHF ground plane.

Jon is a hard working, detail oriented professional who wants to leave you satisfied with the job. The install took longer than expected - very tight quarters in the attic made installing bracing (per specs) very difficult. Jon spent close to 6 hours up there in the summer heat until everything was in place, with no damage to my central a/c conduit! Good thing he brought extra shirts to change into.

The antennas went up smoothly, and the installation looks great and solid.

Jon's price is worth every penny, especially when you consider all the pre-install consulting. I could not have done this myself in my wildest dreams. Jon (and my XYL :-) made it a reality for me.

MOST HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
K3PH Rating: 2019-08-13
Meticulous! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Jon and his son, Adam, have done tower/antenna work for us for a number of years. Their attention to detail is extraordinary. They recently serviced a Bencher Skyhawk that has been up for a number of years and replaced our old Ham IV rotator. Looks and works great!

You can get cheaper, but not better!

----------------------
Earlier 5-star review posted by K3PH on 2018-10-21

Once again, Jon and his son, Adam, came to our rescue!

Our 40-meter beam suddenly developed a high SWR -- only a week before the CQ Worldwide DX contest! I was sure that the balun was burned out, but this is why you call in an expert. In fact, John found a broken connection from the driven element to the balun, plus he found that the coax going up the tower was bad, too. Just because you found one problem doesn't mean it's the ONLY problem! And, it turns out the balun was fine!

Jon and Adam do excellent work. Worth every penny.
----------------------
Earlier 5-star review posted by K3PH on 2018-06-11

Jon and his son, Adam, came by on Saturday to replace a Ham IV rotator, to replace the balun on a Cushcraft XM240, and to install a thrust bearing at the top of our HBX tower. Yes, Jon actually agreed to work on an HBX tower! Jon worked carefully and safely during the entire process. All work was done beautifully! In fact, Jon found rust on the rotator mounting plate and the mast, so he fixed those problems, too. I am VERY pleased with his work and highly recommend him.
WN3T Rating: 2019-07-18
The ultimate professional Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
If I could give Jon a #10 rating instead of a #5, I would! Jon is the ultimate professional. I first utilized his services this past winter when I had him do a swap-out of a tailtwister rotator and an inspection of my 100ft AB-105 tower which is 43 years old. Jon did the rotor swap with no issues, and did a meticulous thorough inspection of the tower, and found a serious issue with the compression fittings that were clamping the guy wires - he observed some hairline cracks - not good! He recommended replacing all the guy wires with proper hardware, and also recommended adding a third, lower set of guys at the 33ft level per the AB-105 specification requirements. He sent me a parts list with the exact materials required, including links to the vendors. After I received all the parts/materials, Jon and his son Adam came out this summer and replaced all the old guy wires and added a new lower set of guys. He also re-installed an 80 meter dipole that my tree guy had accidentally torn down while trimming trees. It was a lot of work, but I could immediately tell Jon and Adam knew what they were doing, as if they had done it before (and they had!). Jon did everything slowly and carefully, and is extremely safety conscious. I intend to use him more in the future, and would highly recommend him to anyone needing a professional tower climber. Rick WN3T
K3WGR Rating: 2018-10-27
Quality work, antenna and rotor install Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Jon is very professional and highly qualified to do tower work. Jon installed two VHF antennas and a rotor atop my second tower (a short 51' Rohn 25G ). Jon was thorough and exacting in his moves. I was Jon's ground man.

The finished product is well worth the investment to have Jon do the high work while I did the low work


Allen K3WGR
KL0R Rating: 2018-10-23
Fantastic work, very reasonable! Time Owned: N.A.
Jon, AA1K came to my dad's place to remove a troublesome and unsightly (today, it was a thing of beauty in its time) old free-standing tower. The work was done quickly and professionally, and safely (important!)!

As the station manager for a large M/M station (KL7RA) I have a lot of experience with tower work and hiring climbers, and I can tell you that Jon and his team are first-rate.

I prefer towers going up, rather than down... and I would wholeheartedly endorse Jon to do both for me, and you should, too!