Re: [TowerTalk] My Tower cost

["Tower (K8RI)" <tower@rogerhalstead.com>]

> On Aug 24, 2004, at 3:40 PM, Tower (K8RI) wrote:
>
> > I've had 40 and 50 foot towers that had a tribander, or monobander on 
> > top, used dirt bases,
> > 1/8" guy lines hooked to 8' fence posts that withstood over 70 MPH winds.
>
> Sounds like you were lucky.

Not really. OTOH all tower installations depend on luck to some extent no 
matter how well engineered.  For the winds of 70 MPH and only 40 foot towers 
using 1/8th inch steel guys anchored in clay was sufficient.  This was also 
back when tower installations were seldom engineered.

> This doesn't appear to be a well-engineered installation, and sounds far 
> inferior to what the manufacturer recommends.

<:-))  What manufacturer specs?  There were none.

> > I had one 40' bracketed to the end of the house, that used a dirt base 
> > and
> > 1/8" steel guys that had a 5L KLM 20 meter beam on a 42 foot boom. I had 
> > a
> > second 40 foot tower that was just out in the back yard holding a 6L 15
> > meter KLM on a 42 foot boom, and I had a third 40 footer in the garden 
> > with
> > a 7L 10 meter Wilson on a 39 foot boom. On all, the guy anchors were 
> > nothing more than 8' steel fence posts driven in about 2 1/2 feet of 
> > clay/loam. These systems
> > withstood over 70 MPH winds out in the open country on a good many
> > occasions.
>
> You're one darn lucky fellow. Are you promoting the installation of 
> marginal towers?

You only need to look at my current installation for the answer to 
that.<:-))
http://www.rogerhalstead.com/ham_files/tower.htm

OTOH, given the same set of circumstances I'd have no qualms about doing 
those same installations again in the same locations.  Would I do them here? 
No as there is no free space for them to fall, IF they fell.  Had they 
fallen I'd have only been out the antenna. The towers were either cheap or 
free.

> I'm all for being cheap, but I refused to cut corners when it comes to 
> safety.

What do you see as a safety issue?
The towers were pleny sturdy enough to climb and they wren't going to fall 
on anything except maybe my wife's garden.  The one bracketed to the house 
only extended about 20 feet above the roof peak and the construction of that 
house was probably stronger than the tower.  Even the eves were 2 X 10s.

> Consider how your insurance company would react when they

As I didn't have any thing that would have exceeded the deductable that was 
not a concern.
The towers and antennas were on a seperate rider, except as here, the one 
bracketed to the house did not receive extra insurance as it was not 
considered a seperate structure.

> discover an improperly engineered tower installation was the cause of 
> damage.

Back then there was no such thing as properly, or improperly engineered 
towers way out in the country, at least not little 40 footers.That was also 
over 35 years ago.

The only antenna I ever lost was a tripod mounted TV antenna in the center 
of the roof. It pulled the lag bolts right out of the backing plates.  The 
towers with the big KLMs and the Wilson suffered no damage. That was 
covered. The adjuster took one look at how it had been installed and I got 
paid.

Some one mentioned towers and the concrete as being structures.  Here in 
Homer Township ham towers 80 feet and under and not considered structures, 
nor are their bases. They require no building permit and the county doens't 
even want to bother inspecting them. Mine at 100 feet OTOH required a permit 
and inspection. The engineering was based on the ROHN catalog.   They looked 
at the holes with the crushed rock in the bottoms, the forms, the tower, the 
anchors, and said it looks good.  After the tower was up the building 
inspector stopped by one day and said, "impressive".

But if that tower is 80 feet or less, you could put 30 yards of concrete 
under it and they don't even want to look at it. Actually they won't issue a 
building permit and will not do an inspection except to make sure the set 
back rules are met.


Roger Halstead (K8RI, EN73 & ARRL Life Member)
N833R, World's Oldest Debonair (S# CD-2)
www.rogerhalstead.com

> Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL        Mail: aa4lr@arrl.net
> Quote: "Not within a thousand years will man ever fly!"
>             -- Wilbur Wright, 1901


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