Batboard

Weve never seen any of Monty's handiwork in these forums. Monty - do you ever do installations, or have pictures of your personal/service vehicles? I would love to see yoru handiwork!

HI:

Although not a vehicle, ( since most are pretty much the same )
this is a fair photo of some custom " Friction " fit Brackets we
made to fit a Electric Line Tower.

The Landlord was VERY SPECIFIC.....NO HOLES IN THE TOWER,
AND all the locations on top were spoken for. ( We did not
want the expense anyway ) However, we did need to have a
spot for 6 antennas

Since the it was not necessary to go to the top of the
tower ( 250 feet of it ) we chose to " Clamp " a special
bracket to the side of the tower leg about 75 feet off theground.


So, we manufactured / Engineered a " Friction " Fit Bracket that
Clamped around one of the tower legs. It was also at a very
poor angle for mounting

Don't let the photo fool you....the bracket is on a 6 by 8 foot
moving blanket, and when finished, would hold up to 6
Antennas. Stands about 4-feet high, and supports 2 [ 10 foot ]
2 x 2' Square Tubing

Anyhow, the bracket was made from 1 inch Plate Steel, was fabricated in our shop, and YES, after it was finished, we had San Diego Galvanizing Plate it for protection against the elements.

All the Specs were chosen to make everything level, and strong
enough to support some pretty hefty antennas....Still in use today !



Anyhow, for Matt, we will look through our archives, but we did
not have a Digital Camera at that tme, and most of these photos were from a Kodak Style of Camera.

Nowdays, unless its " Super Special " we no longer take photos

We gave up polishing our wrenches along time ago.

MS

Well, I'm impressed with the Friction Fit tower Bracket.
It's the One inch thick Steel and the Plating that makes it nice.
Especially since you made it yourself. I like building stuff too.
Not too many people engineer and build their own stuff anymore.
At least here on the Batboard that is NOT the case. Good job.

HI:

This install / design is more reflective of some of our work.

We made a Multi-Mode Control Head ( Head is at the far left )
to be Mated with a Motorola Maxtrac and a Motorola CB

Since this goes on a device that lays concret on highways,
all the equipment, mixing, moving all has to be at one location.

A remarkable piece of machinery.

In other words, Concret & Gravel Trucks bring materials directly
to the Mixer @ the Highway location on a [ Round Robyn Basis ]

When started, this machine lays the Concrect at a continious rate
and CAN NOT STOP for any reason untill the end has been reached.

Sometimes this device travels for 10 ~ 20 Miles before the end
of the work day. ( I could just imagine a radio failure )

Since most Truckers are independent operators, they have
only have CB Radios. And the main Operator of this device
is on VHF coordinatimg what will happen and when with their
crew.

This is a Million Dollar piece of equipmemt, The Device in the
Center is a Computer which controls the operation.

What I had to build was a Commerical Quality Radio System
that would allow the [ Operator ] to Listen and Transmitt to
both a CB Radio Channel ( The Channel the Truckers use ] as
well as the VHF Channel at the " Same " time dealing with Noise
Levels of around 80Db, and had to be Dust and Debrie proof.

There is a toggle switch that is located in the center that
allows the Operator to " Chose " which Transmitter is to
be selected ( CB or VHF ), or he can talk on Both at the
same time.

This makes sure there is no mistakes since everyone hears
the same infortmation and at the same time.

My Control head has independent Volume levels, and the
Repeat Mode is Auto-Matic when / if chosen. It also had to
be idiot proof.

There are some " other " unique devices, but we can't speak
about them here, but I think you can get the picture.

There are 3 LED's, one Green for Receive, one Red For
Transmitt, and well, there is a orange one in the center
in the event a important piece of information needs to be
relayed to other parties in the event the Operator is busy.

Biggest problem that had to be overcome was that the
Concret had a " Time Period "before it cured, and timming
was a very critical issue between when the Trucks arrived
with the materials, and when the mixing took place, hence
the operator is giving commands at all times.

However, the Transmitter under control of the Operator at all times.

Sorry I do not have a photo of the Motorcycle Housing, but
we Mounted a VHF Maxtrac Inside the Motorcycle Housing on the Bottom Tray, and a Motorola CB Radio on top. and the whole Box is mounted on a pedistal which moves left and right. Foot Swicthes on the bottom ( or the PTT ) Switch in the David Clark Headset controls the transmitter while in manuel mode.

If I can find the Photo for the Pedistal, I will upload it at a later
date. This was a Expensive Installation......None other like it
in the world, and has been flawless for over 5 years.



Sorry the photo does not give the unit justice, when I do
routine cleaning, I will take some better photos.

Every item from the Box, Control Cable, Brackets, etc was all
custom made.

Monty