| W1CTN |
Rating:  |
2024-08-29 | |
| Excellent job, on schedule and on budget |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I have recently retired and relocated to the Charlotte NC area. At my former QTH I had a fairly good one tower contest station. After building our new home I wanted to start playing the contest game here in the southeast. IMHO to really enjoy the contesting aspect of the hobby you need to have good antennas and towers to support them. Instead of using Rohn 25 I decided to use Rohn 55 for my main tower. I had a reinforced concrete foundation installed per Rohn 55 specifications. I didn't want to try to put this tower up due to the weight of each section and not having the proper equipment to do so. At 69 I know when to call a professional to get a project done. I contacted Don for his knowledge in erecting towers of this type. Don has the right equipment and vast expertise to assemble a heavy tower like Rohn 55 without mishap. Don's attention to detail made my tower project a success. If you want your installation done right, on schedule and budget Don K4ZA is your guy. |
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| NS4X |
Rating: |
2021-07-17 | |
| You cannot beat experience |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
| Don assisted me with a major tower project: 100 feet of Rohn 55G on a rotating base with four large yagis (see my QRZ page if you want details). Don's *decades* of experience were worth every penny of his reasonable fee. A project of this size is a construction project almost like building a house: there is site selection and preparation, concrete work, assembly, installation, and electrical. Don's expertise was essential, from planning the concrete for the base and guy posts through getting the antennas on the tower and the coax (heliax in this case) prepared and attached. I am very satisfied with the end result and can highly recommend Don. |
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| WZ1Y |
Rating: |
2021-07-13 | |
| Great job, wealth of knowledge |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Looking at my emails, my correspondence with Don began in January 2019. Back then, all I had was a vague idea of what we wanted the station to be. The current W0ABG station was nothing more than an open brome field.
Don responded to all my emails in extreme detail and slowly the finer details of the project began working themselves out. They ranged in topic from where to find the best price on used tower and concrete strength to rotator and antenna selection. After a brief delay due to the pandemic, Don arrived in Kansas. Over three separate trips, Don helped build the station in its entirety, literally from the ground up.
It was evident from the beginning that Don does not cut corners, and takes pride in doing his job right the first time. My advice to anyone who hires him is to get out in the field and help him. By working side by side, I learned a lot more than I could have ever imagined from a book/manual/online-tutorial. He simply has unparalleled knowledge and experience in the business that very few in the ham community possess.
And the final bonus? His work comes at an extremely good price.
If you need any tower work done, ranging from minor repair work to an all-out new install, you can make no better choice than to call Don. |
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| NI4E |
Rating: |
2020-11-10 | |
| Thanks Don!! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Back to report another successful experience with Don Daso, K4ZA. In mid-2017 Don helped me take down my father’s old Rohn 25G (see my 23 June 2017 review, by AC8LJ), and transport it to my station in High Point, NC. Once I decided to reinstall the tower at its new location, Don had the 25G regalvanized and designed the tower’s new footprint, complete with custom built and painted posts for the elevated guy anchor system. He consulted on the base and guy post installation, and by March 2020, we were ready to start. And then the COVID-19 pandemic hit. With the project delayed for several months, Don kept in touch. We restarted the work over the summer, but not without a series of various mishaps and other delays that seemed to wait for us around every corner—most notable an altercation between some tenacious regalvanized slag and a DeWalt grinder, which left Don with a severely severed finger that required an emergency room visit and three layers of stitches (see Don’s 25 July 2020 blog entry on www.k4za.com where he describes the incident). Thankfully, Don made it through OK, and we eventually got back on the project. By early November, my new JK Navassa-5 was up and running, perched at 55 feet. My father (who carried the original NI4E call) would be quite pleased to see his old tower back up. Thanks Don for making it happen!
23 June 2017 review:
Don is incredible! Professional, patient, focused, and importantly, flexible: he revised his busy schedule to help my father (NI4E), me, and family remove a 35+ year old 25G. Several problems surfaced, not the least of which involved a couple of stubborn sections that just would not budge. Though the day was one of the hottest this season, we were all so impressed with how Don remained cool and collected throughout -- pulling from a wealth of knowledge to creatively solve each obstacle with the kind of expertise that only comes from someone who has done this work for a very long time. We were in good hands, to be sure. And I'm so glad that my brothers and I didn’t do this work unattended (which was one of the original plans, hi hi)! Thanks Don - you saved the day! |
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| WR4P |
Rating: |
2020-04-25 | |
| Aluminum Tower Take Down & Replacement |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| After having been off the air for well over a decade, I decided it was time to reactivate the station. My Universal Tower (70 ft free standing aluminum) was discovered to have a 20" split on one of the bottom section legs. The split (probably caused by water freezing inside the leg) dictated that we could not guy the tower off and climb to repair the rotator and make other necessary repairs. It would have to come down with a man lift or crane. A fellow ham recommended I call K4ZA due to the reviews here on eHam.net. Boy, am I glad I called Don! Don's expertise is with the Rohn family of towers but he didn't shy away from this one. He made arrangements for the man lift, researched my particular tower, and made very thoughtful suggestions on fabricating vs ordering new base stubs, ordering a new bottom section, replacing all hardware, and fabricating stand offs for the inverted V and vhf/uhf antennas. Don's work van is well stocked with every tool and product that any tower/antenna project would require. I have a 9 element Sommer beam that is no longer in production and the company no longer exists. We had to have parts fabricated before we could put everything back up. The project from take down to reinstalling the tower and all antennas took a little over a year. We had to reschedule work a few times due to WX, surgeries, and availability of ground crew. Don was so very patient with all of these delays. So easy to work with! We had a mixture of hams and non hams alike. Everyone enjoyed working with Don as he relates well with everyone. His rates are very reasonable and he is very detailed with explaining his fee schedule. No surprises. If you have a tower project and want to feel confident with the project manager, call K4ZA. He knows his stuff! |
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| NI4D |
Rating: |
2019-11-18 | |
| The ultimate tower consultant |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
After 42 years out of the hobby, I decided I needed to put up my first tower. After figuring out what I wanted and City Hall would allow, I was as lost as I could be. I found Don's book and studied and got off to a fast start with the foundation hole, re-bar and hinged base kit. But was overwhelmed at the "right" way to get my winch system in place for the BX self-supporting tower. On a lark, I e-mailed Don, and he patiently (VERY patiently) at times got me through a sea of misinformation and helped my first tower project be a lifetime effort I can be proud of. If you thought the concept of elmering was dead and gone, you are mistaken. I hope to meet him some day and shake his hand for the kindness, patience and wisdom he shared with a clueless neophyte. I really don't think that there is a question he can't fiond an answer to, or problem too big for him to solve.
Carl C
NQ2B |
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| WX8C |
Rating: |
2019-08-01 | |
| Successful Tower/Antenna Installation! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
A year or so ago, I decided to put up a sizeable Optibeam 17-4 yagi on a self-supporting 90 foot tower in rural Missouri. I contacted Don for the project which he accepted. Not only did he sign up for the project but he also provided some contacts and I was able to purchase used, the tower, yagi and rotator in good condition, at a good price. The tower is an AN Wireless HD90 and the rotator is a Prosistel 71D. Don provided a lot of guidance to my brother-in-law and me over the course of a number of months as we put in the foundation and assembled the tower and yagi. Don arrived in early July 2019 and with the help of a skillful local crane operator and a small local ground crew, Don had everything up in the air and fully functional in a day and a half. In addition to the big multi-band yagi the installation included an Optibeam 6-6 meter yagi at the top and an 80 meter dipole on a stand-off just below the top of the tower. The tower was up in 45 minutes. The yagis took a bit longer but Don used his patented “flying forklift” from a man basket and completed a very professional installation despite the sweltering heat.
Finally, Don directly and through his book provided a wealth of information that was very useful at every stage of the project.
If you have a basic or a difficult tower/antenna project, Don is your man.
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| W4FZ |
Rating: |
2018-12-12 | |
| Antenna Replacement |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Called Don as I wanted to swap out my existing Force12 mono-banders with a Steppir DB42. Don agreed to perform the work. He arrived as scheduled and I was a little surprised that he wanted to do the swap alone. The largest Force12 mono-bander was a MAG620/340 which had a 47 foot boom and weighed around 260 lbs. But Don with his flying forklift make the job appear effortless. He also removed a Force12 4BA which was at the 80 foot level. Again Don performed this task with very little effort.
The Steppir DB42 which is no small antenna itself was placed as desired .. again with absolutely no problem.
During this entire project, I found that Don was totally professional and courteous. I'm totally pleased with his work and would not hesitate to call him again.
In fact, a few weeks later when some strong winds passed through from a dying hurricane the Steppir rotated on it's own due to rotator slippage. I called Don again and he offered several suggestions to resolve this anomaly. Ended up with replacing the rotator clamp on my Big Boy PST71D with one of K7NV's replacement clamps. Again Don arrived on schedule, climbed my tower, lifted the mast and Steppir, and replaced the clamp. Only took a few hours.
Don's work on this was again excellent. Highly recommended. |
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| K8IA |
Rating: |
2018-11-03 | |
| Rotating sidearm mount design for Trylon tower |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Don and I have known each other since the early 60's. I've always respected his knowledge and judgement.
I had an interesting problem in coming up with a suitable design to take my JA fixed 5el15m yagi and make it so we could rotate it to EU as well, 325 degrees thru North to about 35 degrees. Being a Trylon (angle members) tower made this more of a challenge than a tower with tubing legs (Rohn etc).
Don, came up with a slick design and some needed clamps too. Our work crew here (KC7V, N7GP, KF7U and I) installed it two weeks ago and all is working well. TNX Don!
73, Bob K8IA
Arizona Outlaws Contest Club |
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| N4GGC |
Rating: |
2018-10-18 | |
| Tower Work |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I asked Don to come up and correct a few problems on my tower. He did a great job. He made several recommendations about other things that I should do in the future and I plan to take his advice. Don is a great guy and a real expert on amateur radio towers and antenna systems. After he got off the tower we had a little time to talk. I wish we had more time to visit. He is an interesting person. I highly recommend him and will call on him again. |
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