Jerry
Aluminum towers tend to flex....not a bad thing. but, the flexing does
cause the bolt holes to "egg" over time...resulting in a bigger and bigger
hole, which causes more flexing and a bigger hole...and so on.
There is a difference in climbing a steel tower and an aluminum tower.
The flex on the aluminum tower can be unnerving if you don't climb a lot. I
feel far more comfortable at 200 feet on a guyed Rohn 55 than at 60 ft on
an aluminum tower.
YMMV
Bill KH7XS/K4XS
In a message dated 8/9/2012 6:24:44 P.M. Greenwich Standard Time,
jerryw6uv@gmail.com writes:
I plan to install a 50' tower and a tri-bander for 20/15/10 and was
originally considering a U.S. Towers 55' crank-up model. While researching
towers, I came across a company called Universal Towers that sells
aluminum
free-standing towers.
Based on the specs, the Universal Towers HD-21-50 aluminum tower looks like
it might be a better fit for the following reasons:
- * At $1989 it's $2K cheaper than the U.S. Tower crank-up
- * It only weighs 190 pounds (spread over five 10' sections), versus
>800 for the crank-up, making it a lot easier to get off the truck with
fewer people
- * The base doesn't require a rebar cage, making installation simpler
- * It won't rust
The HD-21-50 is rated at 21 sq.ft. at 110 MPH, while the U.S. Tower
crank-up is rated at 30 sq.ft. at 50 MPH.
The installation instructions for the aluminum tower says to assemble the
tower on the ground, attach the antenna(s), and then walk it up. In my
case, I don't have 50' of horizontal space to do this. Is it feasible to
climb this type of tower and assemble it vertically section-by-section with
a gin pole? (Whatever I put up will be installed by a professional tower
installer.)
Any reason why I shouldn't consider this aluminum free-standing tower?
- 73, Jerry
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