Tag Archives: tower crew

Wade4Wireless BlogCast

Bruce Holsted talks about how RMSF changed his life!

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Hello all,

Young field workers, pay attention! This could save your life! He is sharing this to help you know not only how to treat this horrible disease but how to prevent it.

Bruce Holsted, a great guy! He opened up to me about how RMSF (Rocky Mounted Spotted Fever) stole 3 years of his life, and he has 2 more years to fully recover. It appears it is expected to take him 5 years to fully recover. All this form the bite of a tick. Luckily, the doctor he saw knew what he had. Unfortunately he waited 6 months to see a doctor.

Let me tell you about some of Bruce’s background. This is a company owner and a tower guy that has 4 full-time crews, hiring subs as needed. This is a guy that built his business over the past 24 years. This is a Hospice volunteer that gives his time to assist more than 25 people a year. This is a guy that has written 2 books, that I know of, for his descendants only to sell quite a few of them on Amazon. I spoke to him and he is a genuinely a good man. He is a Hospice volunteer, something I hold dear to my heart since losing my father a few years back. Bruce is a good man.

So how did a tiny tick almost ruin his life? One tick bite was enough to give him RMSF and cause him so many issues. It started with muscle cramps, mental confusion and more. He had arthritis and so many infections that affected his teeth and his prostrate. This disease almost ruined him, caused him to make bad decisions, and miss important meetings as well as some of his life. It cost him thousands of dollars and he almost lost his business.

Luckily he has a good wife and support of friends that helped him through this horrible ordeal. He also had a doctor that knew what he had and what to look for and how to treat it. He is doing well these days but he still has 2 more years of recovery. He has to keep a close watch on his health because he never knows how it will affect him next.

Prevention, prevention, prevention!So listen to the podcast for his story, not my words. He mentioned that we make sure you know that to kill ticks before they bite you by covering your clothes with Permethrin. This is so important because the best treatment for any tick bite born disease is prevention! What is it? Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permethrin and you will see that it is an insecticide that Bruce uses to kill ticks. You put it on your boots and jeans.

If you have RMSF there is support, go to the Facebook page Survivors of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and Lyme Disease and you will see that there are others out there that went through what you are going through. Support for people going through this is very important! I want you to know that you are not alone.

Let me know what you think on Facebook.

More information on Permethrin;

http://www.epa.gov/oppsrrd1/REDs/factsheets/permethrin_fs.htm

http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/Permtech.pdf

It comes in a spray bottle for your clothing sold here;

http://www.rei.com/product/768970/sawyer-permethrin-pump-spray-24-oz

http://www.amazon.com/Sawyer-Products-Permethrin-Clothing-Repellent/dp/B007VCRX2S

http://www.walmart.com/search/search-ng.do?search_query=Permethrin&adid=22222222220213080317&wmlspartner=wmtlabs&wl0=e&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=40442039413&wl4=&veh=sem

To learn more about Bruce, go to http://www.bruceholsted.com/ and see his books, Sacred Spaces and Steps to a Conversation of Mind to learn more. Make sure you go to the photos section and look over all the pictures, there are several tower and engineer pictures in there. It is worth a look. He also has a Hospice section for those of you who are curious about it. God bless this man!

From my previous blog about ticks;

If you go to this site http://www.medicinenet.com/rocky_mountain_spotted_fever_pictures_slideshow/article.htm you will see a good explanation of the ticks and the disease. They also give hints on how to remove the tick safely and disinfect your wound after the tick is removed. Then save it in case you get sick. Put it in a zip lock bag or pill bottle and freeze it. This will give you something to take to the doctor and explain that you have a tick bite. That may help them diagnose the problem.

Some links that may help explain this tick bite disease.

http://www.cdc.gov/rmsf/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Mountain_spotted_fever

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/rocky-mountain-spotted-fever/basics/definition/con-20032780

http://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/skin/rocky.html

http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/rocky-mountain-spotted-fever

http://www.wbiw.com/local/archive/2014/06/officials-warning-about-ticks.php

http://blog.extension.uconn.edu/tag/deer-ticks/

On this one you need to scroll down to the article. http://www.onhealth.com/rocky_mountain_spotted_fever/article.htm#rocky_mountain_spotted_fever_rmsf_facts

NATE has a Planning Advisory Notice (PAN) for safety, http://natehome.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/PAN-NOV-DEC-2013.pdf and the main page for all NATE PANs is here, http://natehome.com/safety-education/planning-advisory-notice-pan/ if you’re interested. They have PANs for ANSI/TIA 1019-!-2012, Antenna Installations, Mounts and Inspections, FAA Aviation Obstruction Lighting, and Anchor Bolts.

 

Wade4Wireless BlogCast

Interview with Author Vicky Kaseorg who wrote “The Tower Builder” Part 2

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Hello all,

This is part 2! All the same information is below from Part 1 just the podcast is different. I want to make sure you can find part 1 so go here to listen!

Alright, I had so many technical issues and the interview went so long I had to break it into 2 podcasts!

However, Vicky was a trooper and although it comes out a bit choppy and my audio isn’t the best I did get the interview and Vicky is just full of information about the towers and the climbers in her book. She talks about Tony the Tower Builder and she also mentions some interviews with some other climbers that are crazy. It’s good to hear about how these guys have lived and worked as well as how someone like Tony, a good guy, could persevere throughout all of the hardships of the job and his life to come out with such a good attitude.

Vicky talked to so many people in researching this book. Her faith in GOD really shows in this interview and in the book because things just seemed to work out in here favor and she researched this story. She learned so much about WW2 history as well as towers as well as tower climbers. I really enjoyed the book. It was a 3 year venture that Vicky worked relentlessly to solve the mysteries of the tower and the beacon. Along the way she learned so much about American history. The Blaw-Knox towers and the WBT-AM radio station are very interesting.

Vicky originally became interested in the towers because her brother is a HAM radio operator. I call them HAMsters. I have so many friends that are HAMsters and you will see on their emails they always have their call signs below their names. They spend so much time getting on their radios and they play the game of trying to reach the most people the farthest away. Not only that but it was the original social network, the way I see it. They would talk to each other at set times to discuss radios and other interests. It is like the BBS services back when dial-up was common because digital text only bulletin boards were quite common for technical people. HAM radios were around before that, since the 50s really, and it was a way to keep in touch. Well, that will be another blog is anyone is interested in having me research that then let me know.

Vicky is such a nice and interesting person as well as a well-rounded author. I really enjoyed talking to her. She was so patient through all of my technical difficulties and I would like to thank her from the bottom of my heart. She has a blog at http://vickykaseorg.blogspot.com/ and http://vickykaseorg.weebly.com/ if you would like to follow her there and her book “The Tower Climber” is on Amazon. Her author’s page is http://www.amazon.com/Vicky-Kaseorg/e/B006XJ2DWU on Amazon. Barnes & Noble page is at http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/vicky-kaseorg if that’s more you’re style.

If you want to see more on WBT-AM look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WBT_%28radio_station%29 and http://radioheaven.homestead.com/wbtcollection.html to learn more.

More on Blaw-Knox towers can be found at http://www.arrl.org/what-is-ham-radio, http://hawkins.pair.com/blaw-knox.html and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blaw-Knox_tower to see more.

So you think HAM Radio is neat, go to http://www.arrl.org/ham-radio-licenses and learn the right way and then look at radios, http://www.hamradio.com/.

Wade4Wireless BlogCast

Interview with Author Vicky Kaseorg who wrote “The Tower Builder” Part 1

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Hello all,

This is part 1!

Part 2 is here!

Alright, I had so many technical issues and the interview went so long I had to break it into 2 podcasts!

However, Vicky was a trooper and although it comes out a bit choppy and my audio isn’t the best I did get the interview and Vicky is just full of information about the towers and the climbers in her book. She talks about Tony the Tower Builder and she also mentions some interviews with some other climbers that are crazy. It’s good to hear about how these guys have lived and worked as well as how someone like Tony, a good guy, could persevere throughout all of the hardships of the job and his life to come out with such a good attitude.

Vicky talked to so many people in researching this book. Her faith in GOD really shows in this interview and in the book because things just seemed to work out in here favor and she researched this story. She learned so much about WW2 history as well as towers as well as tower climbers. I really enjoyed the book. It was a 3 year venture that Vicky worked relentlessly to solve the mysteries of the tower and the beacon. Along the way she learned so much about American history. The Blaw-Knox towers and the WBT-AM radio station are very interesting.

Vicky originally became interested in the towers because her brother is a HAM radio operator. I call them HAMsters. I have so many friends that are HAMsters and you will see on their emails they always have their call signs below their names. They spend so much time getting on their radios and they play the game of trying to reach the most people the farthest away. Not only that but it was the original social network, the way I see it. They would talk to each other at set times to discuss radios and other interests. It is like the BBS services back when dial-up was common because digital text only bulletin boards were quite common for technical people. HAM radios were around before that, since the 50s really, and it was a way to keep in touch. Well, that will be another blog is anyone is interested in having me research that then let me know.

Vicky is such a nice and interesting person as well as a well-rounded author. I really enjoyed talking to her. She was so patient through all of my technical difficulties and I would like to thank her from the bottom of my heart. She has a blog at http://vickykaseorg.blogspot.com/ and http://vickykaseorg.weebly.com/ if you would like to follow her there and her book “The Tower Climber” is on Amazon. Her author’s page is http://www.amazon.com/Vicky-Kaseorg/e/B006XJ2DWU on Amazon. Barnes & Noble page is at http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/vicky-kaseorg if that’s more you’re style.

If you want to see more on WBT-AM look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WBT_%28radio_station%29 and http://radioheaven.homestead.com/wbtcollection.html to learn more.

More on Blaw-Knox towers can be found at http://www.arrl.org/what-is-ham-radio, http://hawkins.pair.com/blaw-knox.html and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blaw-Knox_tower to see more.

So you think HAM Radio is neat, go to http://www.arrl.org/ham-radio-licenses and learn the right way and then look at radios, http://www.hamradio.com/.

Wade4Wireless BlogCast

Small Cell Deployment: 10 tips you need, especially #6 Podcast

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Hello wireless workers in the wireless world! OK, this is long but filled with good information!

Small cells, small cells, small cells! Are you tires of hearing about small cells? They have been hyped but they are slow to roll out. However, many of the obstacles, mostly permitting and leasing, will be overcome at the end of 2014, yay! So now what, will the carriers go to the lowest bidder? Maybe, because they need to have the learning curve, that is except maybe Verizon and AT&T. They already learned that there are skills involved in deployment. So they should have the requirements listed when they put the installations out to bid. Why? Because they want to do it once, not twice! Luckily they learned a lot in their trials. So let me share some of what I know with you.

I want to give you some insight as to what will set you apart from other deployment companies in the business. It all comes down to skills! Skills that make you valuable so your company can honestly answer the RFP or RFQ without saying, “We can learn that if we win”. Now, don’t be naive, it will come down to price if you qualify. The key thing is that they will try to hire crews in local markets to save any per Diem costs. Remember that they put it out to bid to serve their purpose, not yours.

  1. Mounting options – knowledge of mounting options. I am talking about wall mount on a building, pole mount on a wood pole, light pole mount on a light pole, and strand mount on a cable. Know what you are mounting to and how to properly mount to each of them. It matters that you know what you are getting into and that you do a quality mount job. If the unit falls down in a year due to weather or vandals then you may not get another chance to deploy for that company again. Remember that they invite you to that bid offering.
  2. Antenna options – knowledge of how to mount antennas will play a key role in deployments. What does that mean? Do you know that the antenna will need to be vertical or horizontal? Will you need to point it at a bearing of 187 degrees? Does it matter? Yes, use your head and be aware of what you are mounting and how you mount it. Make sure it’s weather proof.
  3. Fiber termination – do you know how to terminate fiber. It will matter. You will need to connect the fiber to the router and or the small cell, it will need to have the proper connector and it will need to be done on site. Make sure your fiber skills are up to date.
  4. Training on the product – did you get trained on the product? Do you know the OEM? Do you have a clue or do you think you will wing it. Training matters, it will be so important if something goes wrong and the warranty is impacted. Do you think the customer will be happy if you do anything wrong? Do you see the payment from the customer fading away because you were not certified to mount that product and now someone else has to go out and fix your screw up? Training will matter!
  5. Backhaul connection options – do you know the difference between fiber connections? Do you know how to terminate CAT5 copper? Do you know what the DOCSIS interface is? I expect the cable companies will play a part in small cell deployment. Why? Because they have access to so many poles that they will be ready to assist in deployment if they don’t decide to deploy their own systems which would mean more work for you! So make sure your team has all the right tools, what will they be terminating? Will it be fiber, copper, or cable? It could be all three depending on the situation. Don’t show up with only fiber tools when you may need to be ready for CAT 5 and coax? Read the SOW!
  6. Street pole mounting locations – do you know the difference between a telecom zone and the power zone on a street pole? If you want to deploy, don’t be stupid and know the mounting locations and the rules. Strand mount has size and weight limitations, know them. Just ask the owner and do some research. Small cells are being designed to meet these specifications, so it may be in your best interest to know what can be mounted so if the OEM sends you the wrong unit then you can point it out once instead of replacing it later. If you mount something too big and too heavy the problems start with permitting and maybe a citation from the city and they could grow into the strand coming down or a truck catching the small cell and ripping the small cell and the strand out of the pole (it happened). That would be ugly and involve a lot of finger-pointing. It pays to arm yourself with some knowledge. Size and weight matter, in this case. Poles are filling up quick, or they will so if you see someone else on the pole then you may want to let everyone know. I don’t know how many small cells can be mounted on the pole but it seems to me that the first one to mount there wins.
  7. Router skills – this may be important to the deployment people in case there is a problem or if they have a script file that you need to load. It will help if you can do it. You may be able to do this in the warehouse prior to deployment, but it is something that can set you apart from your competition. If you do it in the warehouse make sure you label the units for the designated location if they each have a unique IP, it matters to the NOC so they know where you installed it. That is usually determined ahead of time. When they integrate it into the network they need to know exactly where it is if it doesn’t have a GPS or if it is in a large building.
  8. Grounding – so do you think because it is a small cell that it doesn’t need to be grounded. You should learn in your OEM train how to ground each unit properly because if anything is wrong they will blame grounding. They just do because no one really knows how it affects the base station, so do the grounding per the specification.
  9. RF knowledge – this will help in case they try to mount a small cell in a metal box, (this did happen) and then they wonder why it doesn’t work. It was a small cell with integrated antennas. This is something you could point out immediately. Not rocket science, but when the NOC is working on it they can’t see it, you can. Point that out.
  10. Acceptance testing – chances are they will ask the deployment team to do the testing when they turn it up. The plan is to have them come live immediately and with SON (Self Organizing Network) systems taking over along with plug and play technology, the installers should be able to use a special phone for the final test. This is something that you should be ready to learn and familiarize yourself with this. The OEM training should cover this so pay attention in class!

 

OK, that’s all I have for small cells. I have some cool things coming up. I have an interview with Vicky Kaseorg who wrote the “The Tower Builder” available on Amazon and it’s about the towers that were taken out by a hurricane and rebuilt by a tower builder and all the effort put into it as well as the life of Tony, the tower builder, and beacons. Yes, beacons, read it to learn more!

I also have an interview with a guy who is turned his toy drone helicopter into a tool to do tower inspections. He has a camera on it and he has the soft touch to control it around towers to take pictures. It’s really cool and when I get the information I will have Greg on my podcast and some of his pictures on my blog.

Someone reached out to me about rigging tags, http://www.certags.com/lifting-rigging-rigg-tag.php and they offer free samples on that site. I am not getting anything for this word of mouth but I thought some of you may be interested. Someone sent me the link on LinkedIn and I thought I would share. It seems like a good way to mark your cables, shackles, and wire rope as well as your safety gear. They have guides here, http://www.certags.com/free-guides-gifts.php if you’re interested.

If you’re interested, my books are “Field Worker’s Aid for Tower Work” and “Tower Climbing: An Introduction”.

Be safe, be smart, and pay attention! Robert T. Kiyosaki said focus – follow one course until successful which I think really applies to the communications work on the tower and off the tower. We all need to focus until the job is complete. Each job requires us to focus on it until it a success. Unfortunately many of you blame the schedule but if you look at the schedule and not the job at hand something may slip. If something slips on the tower then it may hit someone below. Then the schedule just doesn’t seem important anymore.

Wade4Wireless BlogCast

Tower Safety: Australia versus USA

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Hey guys,

First off, we had another fallen worker this month and I would like all of  you to take a moment of silence in remembrance.

Well it’s time for the world cup!Soccer is exciting to the world! In North America and Australia we both say soccer, but to the rest of the world it’s football. Either way Let’s see how we stack up against each other in tower safety. I got some information on the high risk work certifications that Australia has from Dennis Lundin. I met Dennis on LinkedIn. He was nice enough to send me a boatload of information over. Thank you Dennis!

Leave me a review in iTunes here.

Here in the USA we have a high number of accidents that result in death. I often wanted to compare it to other countries where the government regulates the tower business. Here in the USA we are more or less self-regulated. We rely on the industry to regulate itself. I know you have businesses out there that say they keep an eye on it, but how? They really just give guidelines and they rely on OSHA to follow-up. Are we being proactive in accident prevention?

Now that OSHA is coming out with updated rules I thought it would be interesting to see what Australia does. I virtually met Dennis Lundin on LinkedIn. He was nice enough to send all this information on how it works down under. Here is what he sent me. It covers more than tower climbing, it cover construction in general. It covers risk management.

So what is the USA doing wrong? I really don’t know except maybe we have more work or maybe the lack of safety regulation is hurting the climber’s safety. Don’t you wonder why we don’t have more regulation for an occupation where the percentage of death is so high? Is it that government doesn’t care about the workers that make their communications system work? Here is a critical cog in the machine and the accidents seem to be accepted, not prevented. Is it because when it happens it is out at a tower site, not close to the public? I don’t understand. What is an allowable death rate? I think ZERO is the only answer.

We have similar documentation here in the US. We should know better. So what is happening here? If you look at http://www.wirelessestimator.com/t_content.cfm?pagename=International%20Tower%20Climber%20Deaths you will see that deaths overseas appear to be lower than here in the US.

Dennis was kind enough to take the time to put all of this together so we can understand what they are doing there. They seem to have a better track record that we do.

From Dennis:
By Law, to work in Towers or on Roof Tops, etc a worker must have: 

  • License To Perform High Risk Work (renewed every 5 Years) 
  • Dogging – DG 
  • Basic Rigging – RB 
  • Intermediate Rigging – RI 
  • Advanced Rigging – RA 
  • Certification To Perform High Risk Work (renewed every 3 Years) 
  • WHS Card 
  • Working at Heights 
  • Working on Roofs 
  • Tower Climbing 
  • Tower Rescue 
  • Senior First Aid with CPR 
  • RF Awareness 

License To Perform High Risk Work 
http://www.workcover.nsw.gov.au/licensing/Licencesandcertificates/highriskworklicences/Pages/default.aspx 
http://www.workcover.nsw.gov.au/licensing/Licencesandcertificates/Pages/Scaffoldingrigginganddogging.aspx 
http://www.workcover.nsw.gov.au/NEWLEGISLATION2012/Pages/default.aspx 
http://www.workcover.nsw.gov.au/formspublications/publications/Pages/factsheetfallfromheights.aspx 
http://www.workcover.nsw.gov.au/formspublications/publications/Pages/WC01321_SafeWorkingatHeightsGuide.aspx 

Certification To Perform High Risk Work 
https://www.eduweb.vic.gov.au/edulibrary/public/ohs/DEE_EHU-08-1-1_Working_at_Height_Procedure.pdf

Permit To Perform High Risk Work on Buildings (Roof Tops, Platforms,etc) (renewed for every job) 
A Work at Heights Permit and Induction Certification from the Building Owner and a Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS) which need to be Fill-Out and signed each day by the Site Supervisor and all Riggers. 

Access To Perform High Risk Work on Towers (renewed for every job) 
Access Permit and Induction Certification from the Tower Owner (which need to see all above Licence To Perform High Risk Work and Certification To Perform High Risk Work) and a Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS) which need to be Fill-Out and signed each day by the Site Supervisor and all Riggers. 

Induction Certification (renewed every 2 Years) 
Tower Owner or Building Owner will typical use a company like Rapidinduct to set up and run the Induction services. All above Licence To Perform High Risk Work and Certification To Perform High Risk Work) and a Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS) need to be uploaded to the system and approved before Induction can be permitted. 

See Sample of Induction Site 
https://www.rapidinduct.com.au 
https://www.rapidinduct.com.au/online-induction-solutions.html 
https://www.rapidinduct.com.au/contractor_Induction.html 

Also a Method Of Procedure (MOP) must be in place in the SWMS 

Per Dennis: As I install Microwave Links, my MOP is below Step by Step Tower Installation Procedure ;

  • Access site and logon as per Tower/Building Owner and Vertel instructions
  • Complete daily SWMS highlighting any apparent hazards and complete toolbox talk 
  • Confirm drawings are correct cross check with RF design plan 
  • Unpack Dish and assemble as per manufacturer’s instructions that are supplied with the Dish 
  • Assemble Dish Mount as per supplied drawings 
  • Unpack and complete visual inspection of rigging and harness equipment 
  • Check RadMan for operation and calibration 
  • Call in outage (if any) with Tower Owner, confirm with either on site technician or NOC that power has been reduced 
  • Set up block and tackle 2 meters above the intended Dish Mount position, employ 100% attachment techniques whilst accessing tower to install block and tackle, use only tower ladder to access tower 
  • Use only a block with inbuilt braking system and ensure block and tackle is suitably rated for the task at hand 
  • Approach red zone of tower with caution monitoring RadMan for RF activity 
  • Hand haul Dish Mount into position keeping clear of existing equipment 
  • Attach and secure Dish Mount as per supplied drawings 
  • Hand haul Dish and ODU into position and secure as per manufacturers instructions 
  • Pre-terminate Connector to Feeder on ground and hand haul into position, connect to ODU and seal connection in approved manner 
  • Secure Feeder to Tower Feeder Brackets with appropriate Cable Tries or Cable Hangers that suit the Feeder being used 
  • Install Earthing (Ground) Kits to Feeder as per manufacturer’s instructions 
  • Route the Feeder into the Cabinet or Hut via the gland plate and appropriate size gland and terminate as per the manufacturer’s instructions at the IDU mounting location 
  • Power up equipment and align Dish as per manufacturer’s instructions and Vertel MLT 
  • Once tower work is complete contact NOC to close outage (if any) 
  • Clean up site and remove all rubbish, log off site and ensure compound is secure.

So who wins? Let me know what you think, get me on Facebook (hit Like while you are there!)or leave a comment. The way I see it is Australia gets an A while the USA gets a D because we still have so many fatalities. D is very poor, but look at our track record. We have so many people who try to make the USA #1 in training and prevention but we are dropping the ball when it comes to responsibility within the companies. Safety is the priority and schedule should be a distant 3rd after safety budget. Let’s make the rest of the year safe and healthy and no more injuries! At least no more preventable injuries.

Also, still have my books for sale at Wireless Field Aid and An Introduction to Tower Climbing.

I have some good stuff coming up for you faithful followers. I am working on an interview with the FCC people on RF radiation, more tick talk, and some small cell deployment problems.

Tower Shelters
Tower Shelters
RIP
RIP
Tower road
Tower road
Tower Base
Tower Base
Two Towers
Two Towers
Wade4Wireless BlogCast

Beware! The Tick Attacks! Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever Interview with Kevin Kidd.

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Beware the killer ticks, well, at least they can make you sick. Those silent hazards are out there wireless workers! So that little tick can cause huge problems! How about Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever to start. I did a story about Bruce Holsted that explained how RMSF almost ruined his life. Now I have another person, Kevin Kidd also went through a similar ordeal. He too is in the tower industry. Listen to his story on my podcast!

Kevin is a broadcast engineer that works at tower sites for a living. He suffered Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF) and I asked that he share his experience so you know what to look for and recognize the symptoms in case you get it. Ticks are more common than you think so here is a good podcast to explain what happened to Kevin and how he found out he had this disease. Sorry about the audio but it was on his cell. Kevin is very busy and I am so grateful he took the time to talk to me

If you go to this site http://www.medicinenet.com/rocky_mountain_spotted_fever_pictures_slideshow/article.htm you will see a good explanation of the ticks and the disease. They also give hints on how to remove the tick safely and disinfect your wound after the tick is removed. Then save it in case you get sick. Put it in a zip lock bag or pill bottle and freeze it. This will give you something to take to the doctor and explain that you have a tick bite. That may help them diagnose the problem.

Kevin’s information is;

Kevin C. Kidd, CSRE/AMD
WD4RAT
mailto:kkidd@kkbc.com
KK BROADCAST ENGINEERING
http://www.kkbc.com
AM GROUND SYSTEMS CO.
http://www.amgroundsystems.com

Some links that may help explain this tick bite disease.

http://www.cdc.gov/rmsf/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Mountain_spotted_fever

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/rocky-mountain-spotted-fever/basics/definition/con-20032780

http://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/skin/rocky.html

http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/rocky-mountain-spotted-fever

http://www.wbiw.com/local/archive/2014/06/officials-warning-about-ticks.php

On this one you need to scroll down to the article. http://www.onhealth.com/rocky_mountain_spotted_fever/article.htm#rocky_mountain_spotted_fever_rmsf_facts

NATE has a Planning Advisory Notice (PAN) for safety, http://natehome.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/PAN-NOV-DEC-2013.pdf and the main page for all NATE PANs is here, http://natehome.com/safety-education/planning-advisory-notice-pan/ if you’re interested. They have PANs for ANSI/TIA 1019-!-2012, Antenna Installations, Mounts and Inspections, FAA Aviation Obstruction Lighting, and Anchor Bolts.

Wade4Wireless BlogCast

Tower Climbers: where do you look for work? Survey time!

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Hey Tower climbers, where would you look for work?

I have another survey that I want you to complete. Survey is at the bottom if you refuse to read anymore! I have a post on how to build your resume from LinkedIn here.  Remember, if you like the podcast just search for Wade4Wireless on iTunes and hit subscribe.

Guys, I have so many people coming to me for 2 reasons, they need climbers or a climber needs work. I try to help by posting. Where would you go to find a job? A website, well which one? Do you ask someone? Do you go to Facebook and put the word out? Let me know. I have several websites listed.

I know there are so many companies that need people. I know there are so many people looking for work. So what is the issue here? Why can’t we connect? There are so many sites out there that allow you to post your resume. You can go to LinkedIn, Facebook, or maybe go on a Tower Group and look for work. What about RCR, http://www.rcrwireless.com/article/ that shows jobs offered by http://telecomcareers.net/ and http://www.towercrews.net/ on a daily basis if you get their emails. There is the company I talk to once in a while, http://www.towerclimber.com/ which is also www.towerdawg.com if you’re interested. There is also http://www.towerclimberjobs.com/ for anyone looking. There are many more, I see climbing jobs on Twitter and Craigslist all the time. I know that if you go to Wireless Estimator at http://www.wirelessestimator.com/t_content.cfm?pagename=Tower_Construction_Employment and you can see the hiring tracker they have, which is really cool! They do have a job listing at http://www.wirelessestimator.com/helpwanted.cfm as well.

So there you have it, plenty of places to look for work. Do you use them all? Are you actively looking. When did you last look? If you go on Facebook you will see so many larger companies looking for climbers. Just to name a few, Mastec, Blue Stream, BIG Wireless, Super Nova Telecom, Atlantic Tower Services, Goodman Networks, and so many more. If I missed your company, sorry, but so many people are looking. Remember that just because a company is hiring doesn’t mean it’s a great place to work!

So why are there so many people looking? Could it be the price they are willing to pay. I would say that is a big part of it. The industry has so many black eyes, and I don’t just mean for safety. I hear many stories about no payment. Which, if you have a few of those stories let me know so I can write about them. Let me know by emailing me or get be on Facebook.

Did you update your resume? Do you have a cover letter? Do you call everyone? What would you do first? Well, you had better have a resume with all of your certifications listed. Make sure you have them someplace where they stand out. If a computer scans your resume it will look for your certifications. In the old days someone would read your resume, today, who knows. It all depends on the company. If a head hunter is recruiting you then you may not even get past the verification process if you don’t clearly identify the certifications. Are you on LinkedIn? Many companies are looking there before they hire. Do you have references listed?

Wade4Wireless BlogCast

A Story of RF Radiation Poisoning, Blogcast Podcast.

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Hello everybody. I have something special for you today. I have an interview with someone who had RF Radiation poisoning. I wrote a blog a few weeks back that had information in it about the climber that got RF poisoning years ago. His name is Bruce Elle and he was kind enough to let me interview him and broadcast it on my Blog Cast podcast. You can listen to it here or get it on iTunes. It is over an hour so it’s not something that you can fly through.

I did edit out some swear words, the best I could. This is an adult conversation so be aware not to have children around for this. It is over an hour so make time to listen.

Bruce and I have a goal of alerting people of the hazards of RF radiation.We would like make sure you get the point that safety matters. Although we jump around in our conversation we want to drive home that the more you know the more you respect yourself. Respect yourself by looking for ways to keep you healthy, now and in the long run. You have the tools available to ensure that you will be safe barring a major failure, which happens in this business.

We start out by going into Bruce’s background as a climber and the history of the climbing business. Many people think that the way things are now is how it’s always been. Let me tell you it has come a long way. The advances in climbing and safety have been greatly advance through training and education. The thing about climbers is that they hate to change the way they do things. So the key is to show them how it will help them improve their work and be safer. It is hard to slow down a seasoned climber because they want to race up the tower and get the job done. The focus is changing now to make sure that the job is not only done right but safety is the focus.

Focus, this is one thing that we all seem to have a problem with today. When you are going to head up the tower you need to have focus. Someone needs to be looking out for you. That is why I say the crew needs to work together, so that each person is looking for something that they other person may have missed. But, back to the interview.

Bruce talks about how he climbed up the tower that day he got radiated. He was working on the antenna 550 feet up in the air. This was in February and he was sweating while sitting on the antenna. The beacon was on the antenna. For all of you guys that do cellular work may not understand that broadcast antennas were huge and the beacons were on the antenna itself. The antenna would be a huge steel structure made to be mounted on top of a tower. The engineering that went into these was amazing because it would not only radiate but it would need to be a solid steel structure, in this case 50’ high, that you could climb on and it had a beacon on top.

So he was sitting on the antenna was on low power, which in this case was 35,000 watts coming out of the transmitter. This was considered safe at that time, can you believe it? This was considered safe for someone to site on the antenna to change out the beacon. This was considered a normal day at work.

Bruce didn’t have any real pain right away, he just felt really hot for the middle of February. He didn’t feel anything out of the ordinary until he got home that night, then the fever hit. He had to take an ice bath to break the fever. This was the beginning of so many problems that he still deals with today.

Back then he didn’t have RF alert meters, RF suits, or anything like that. Today you have the opportunity to prepare for the unseen hazards of RF radiation by preparing yourself with those tools. Bruce is telling this story so that no other human goes through the pain and suffering he has endured. OK, get it, he is trying to help all of you by sharing his experience. Listen carefully if you want to live a healthy life. Quality of life matters.

Listen to the interview, Bruce lead a climber’s life, not always perfect but he learned on the way. If you are new to this business you will learn a lot about the lifestyle. You can learn from his mistakes and set yourself up for success. Come up with a plan that will work for you. Think about how you can improve your life by reviewing the safety and lifestyle changes that will make you a better person in the long run. Bruce did this to help you all live a better life, he is here to help.

Let me know what you think. I am here to get the word out. I have a book for new climbers here. Like me on Facebook!

Here are some links, old and new, that will shed some light on RF Radiation poisoning.

1980 News on RF Radiation

2013 News on RF Radiation

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