When you talk to some ham radio operators and mention the word “ladder” many will think about Ladder Line. This is that flat, two-conductor cable often used in ham radio antennas. The 300-ohm version used to be popular for TV antennas until pretty much replaced by 75-ohm coaxial cable. Ladder Line is used for balanced antennas, like dipoles, where both sides are the same. On balanced antennas a small transformer called a “Balun” is often used to allow coax to be used to connect the antenna to a radio, tuner or amplifier. (“Balun” is a compound work mixing “Balanced” and “Unbalanced”.)
For most people however “ladder” is that tool used to reach high places. As a former firefighter I was very familiar with ground ladders as well as the Aerial Ladder we had on the fire department. My main assignment was on the Ladder, I was a tall, skinny young guy who didn’t mind being strapped 100 feet up and getting hit by back-spray and smoke. One really cold January night we had a barn fire, and I spent a couple hours up there pouring water on the fire. With the wind shifting around I was soaked and got frozen to the ladder, caked with ice. The engineer lowered the ladder with me on it, and I rode back to the station there, and they chipped me out of there in the warmth of a heated equipment bay. A few cups of hot chocolate and a change of clothes later I was fine.
But for the purposes of our story today we will talk about the various ground ladders I have around the house to work on my antennas and radios.
When I bought the house the couple before us had 4 ladders here. 2 were painter’s ladders, probably more often used for installing Christmas decorations or changing bulbs in the ceiling lights. One was a light-duty aluminum extension ladder and the last was a larger step ladder that was probably used to clean his RV.
I kept one of the painter’s ladders and the extension ladder, selling the others at a garage sale. The painter’s ladder is perfect for household use. The extension ladder is perfectly sized for accessing my attic. I suspect however that the prior owner of my house used it for his Christmas decorations. We bought the house furnished and they had tons of lights, 3 Christmas trees and boxes full of decorations. As far as I could tell he was not a guy that would spend any time in the attic.
This house has 10-foot ceilings, and this 16-foot extension ladder is light and easy to extend. I extend it up until it hits my attic hatch and then push up on the ladder to open the hatch before locking in the ladder. The 16-foot extension ladder works fine for me but one of these days I would like to replace it with stairs. Maybe one of these days…
For outside antenna work I bought one of those “Little Giant” 26-foot combination ladders. These can be used as step, extension or offset ladders. They have latches that allow the thing to be converted in various ways.
While a neat idea, it is really heavy and hard to wrangle by myself, especially in “Extension Mode”. Also, in extension mode they are not really steady, they have a lot of flex. I used this to install my Omni-X and ST-2 on the side of my house and was not comfortable at all. I had to extend both legs to their full length and then pick the ladder off the ground to get it to the roof, not an easy task. I could not extend it while it was vertical, the thing was just too heavy to do so.
I then decided to do things right and get a bigger, standard extension ladder. As a “man of size” as they say, I needed a ladder with higher weight capacity and 22 feet or more reach. I remembered from 3 decades ago in my firefighter days that we had Werner fiberglass ladders for groundwork, so I looked for these. At Home Depot I found a 24-foot Werner ladder with a 300-pound capacity. It was expensive ($400), but I knew it would last and support my less-than-petite frame. I could carry and set it up by myself easily. My wife would help but mostly she would get in the way so that was important for me.
I brought it home and used it that afternoon to swap the ST-2 for my Mil-Omni. It was perfect for the job! As expected, it was easy for me to wrangle and a whole lot sturdier than my Little Giant. Now I had to figure out how to store the thing. At 12 feet long when not extended it would always be in the way no matter where I put it. I really wanted to hang it on the wall in my garage, but I had cabinets on one side and work benches on the other. I looked at other solutions and my wife asked about hanging it on the ceiling. Aha!
I found the weight to be about 50 pounds so thought about a pulley. My brother-in-law had had his kayak stored on his garage ceiling, so I checked Amazon for a kayak pulley and bought a “StoreYourBoard” system rated at 150 pounds. Basically, you mount two pullies on the ceiling, screwed into joists. You then rig the rope thru the pullies. It has straps for the load. The hardest part of installing it was figuring out the rope route thru the pullies.
Ironically, I had to use the Little Giant to install the silly thing on my garage ceiling, it was the only way to reach it. Once installed it took some time to figure the operation out, but I found that the easiest way was to set the ladder on my wheel cart and position it under the pullies. I then wrap the straps around the ladder and pull the ropes, lifting the ladder. It has tension stops to prevent it from falling, I then tie off the rope on a bracket on the wall. Easy-peasy!
I have used this Werner ladder several times now, most recently this spring when I changed the coax lines in my attic. In order to connect the new coax and remove the old one I had to get on that ladder outside. When I do this type of work, I use one of my 5-gallon work buckets to hold my tools and supplies. I also have a set of oversized carabiner style hooks to hold the bucket to the ladder while I work. These hooks fit nicely on the rungs of the ladder.
Going back to the attic, the smaller, lighter aluminum extension ladder is better for accessing the attic, the Werner is too tall for this work. I tried and failed. My thought was that I could use just the one ladder for both and found that I am better off with using two. The painting ladder is still useful for other jobs around the house but is too short for any of my antenna work.
If you are going to work on antennas at elevation, be sure to invest in a proper ladder. $400 is a lot of money for a ladder that I will use a couple times a year, but it is worth the investment. It will outlast me for sure. Just the secure feeling I have on the Werner compared to the wobbliness of the Little Giant is worth the expense.
For most people however “ladder” is that tool used to reach high places. As a former firefighter I was very familiar with ground ladders as well as the Aerial Ladder we had on the fire department. My main assignment was on the Ladder, I was a tall, skinny young guy who didn’t mind being strapped 100 feet up and getting hit by back-spray and smoke. One really cold January night we had a barn fire, and I spent a couple hours up there pouring water on the fire. With the wind shifting around I was soaked and got frozen to the ladder, caked with ice. The engineer lowered the ladder with me on it, and I rode back to the station there, and they chipped me out of there in the warmth of a heated equipment bay. A few cups of hot chocolate and a change of clothes later I was fine.
But for the purposes of our story today we will talk about the various ground ladders I have around the house to work on my antennas and radios.
When I bought the house the couple before us had 4 ladders here. 2 were painter’s ladders, probably more often used for installing Christmas decorations or changing bulbs in the ceiling lights. One was a light-duty aluminum extension ladder and the last was a larger step ladder that was probably used to clean his RV.
I kept one of the painter’s ladders and the extension ladder, selling the others at a garage sale. The painter’s ladder is perfect for household use. The extension ladder is perfectly sized for accessing my attic. I suspect however that the prior owner of my house used it for his Christmas decorations. We bought the house furnished and they had tons of lights, 3 Christmas trees and boxes full of decorations. As far as I could tell he was not a guy that would spend any time in the attic.
This house has 10-foot ceilings, and this 16-foot extension ladder is light and easy to extend. I extend it up until it hits my attic hatch and then push up on the ladder to open the hatch before locking in the ladder. The 16-foot extension ladder works fine for me but one of these days I would like to replace it with stairs. Maybe one of these days…
For outside antenna work I bought one of those “Little Giant” 26-foot combination ladders. These can be used as step, extension or offset ladders. They have latches that allow the thing to be converted in various ways.
While a neat idea, it is really heavy and hard to wrangle by myself, especially in “Extension Mode”. Also, in extension mode they are not really steady, they have a lot of flex. I used this to install my Omni-X and ST-2 on the side of my house and was not comfortable at all. I had to extend both legs to their full length and then pick the ladder off the ground to get it to the roof, not an easy task. I could not extend it while it was vertical, the thing was just too heavy to do so.
I then decided to do things right and get a bigger, standard extension ladder. As a “man of size” as they say, I needed a ladder with higher weight capacity and 22 feet or more reach. I remembered from 3 decades ago in my firefighter days that we had Werner fiberglass ladders for groundwork, so I looked for these. At Home Depot I found a 24-foot Werner ladder with a 300-pound capacity. It was expensive ($400), but I knew it would last and support my less-than-petite frame. I could carry and set it up by myself easily. My wife would help but mostly she would get in the way so that was important for me.
I brought it home and used it that afternoon to swap the ST-2 for my Mil-Omni. It was perfect for the job! As expected, it was easy for me to wrangle and a whole lot sturdier than my Little Giant. Now I had to figure out how to store the thing. At 12 feet long when not extended it would always be in the way no matter where I put it. I really wanted to hang it on the wall in my garage, but I had cabinets on one side and work benches on the other. I looked at other solutions and my wife asked about hanging it on the ceiling. Aha!
I found the weight to be about 50 pounds so thought about a pulley. My brother-in-law had had his kayak stored on his garage ceiling, so I checked Amazon for a kayak pulley and bought a “StoreYourBoard” system rated at 150 pounds. Basically, you mount two pullies on the ceiling, screwed into joists. You then rig the rope thru the pullies. It has straps for the load. The hardest part of installing it was figuring out the rope route thru the pullies.
Ironically, I had to use the Little Giant to install the silly thing on my garage ceiling, it was the only way to reach it. Once installed it took some time to figure the operation out, but I found that the easiest way was to set the ladder on my wheel cart and position it under the pullies. I then wrap the straps around the ladder and pull the ropes, lifting the ladder. It has tension stops to prevent it from falling, I then tie off the rope on a bracket on the wall. Easy-peasy!
I have used this Werner ladder several times now, most recently this spring when I changed the coax lines in my attic. In order to connect the new coax and remove the old one I had to get on that ladder outside. When I do this type of work, I use one of my 5-gallon work buckets to hold my tools and supplies. I also have a set of oversized carabiner style hooks to hold the bucket to the ladder while I work. These hooks fit nicely on the rungs of the ladder.
Going back to the attic, the smaller, lighter aluminum extension ladder is better for accessing the attic, the Werner is too tall for this work. I tried and failed. My thought was that I could use just the one ladder for both and found that I am better off with using two. The painting ladder is still useful for other jobs around the house but is too short for any of my antenna work.
If you are going to work on antennas at elevation, be sure to invest in a proper ladder. $400 is a lot of money for a ladder that I will use a couple times a year, but it is worth the investment. It will outlast me for sure. Just the secure feeling I have on the Werner compared to the wobbliness of the Little Giant is worth the expense.
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