Ross,
I see from your signature that you are associated with ASU. There are some
great resources around the Phoenix area. The ham clubs would be a great
resource (there are several) as well as HRO, which is not far off the I-17
in Phoenix. When I was at ASU there was a ham club on campus as well. If it
were me, I’d get into the commuter net in the morning and let them know
what you want to do. You’ll get tons of help.
As a civil engineer, I am involved with quite a few tower installs every
year. I definitely would not get a hand me down tower. Not for a school. I
also wouldn’t install a tower that could be easily climbed. My kids would
be the first ones up to the top. I had to make it really hard to climb my
tower to keep them off. Kids are natural climbers and always want to be
high up, and rarely understand the dangers. I would go with a monopole. You
may need to find a cell tower installer for that. Your best bet may not be
a tower at all, but a wire and/or beam install on the roof of the building.
The science center in downtown Phoenix has a ham station inside it, with a
beam on the roof. You may go that route, as you will get elevation and
safety. You’d have more radio budget as well, if you don’t spend 20k on a
tower.
Fee free to contact me off list if you have more questions.
Brian
KF7OVD
On Sunday, April 11, 2021, Ross Tucker <rjtucke@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hello all!
>
> I have been offered a position at my high school to teach ham radio as a
> class. The administration also said that they would be willing to have a
> tower installed! The one problem is that I have zero experience with real
> towers. I was wondering if one or more of you might be willing to
> correspond with me to walk me through the whole process.
>
> To be honest, I don't even know what I need. The absolute #1 constraint is
> that it must be over-engineered for safety - if anything falls and damages
> school property during monsoon season, I will be extremely fired. XD
> Low-maintenance is also important, as I'm a busy teacher with a small child
> at home. Height needs to be at least 20 or 30' to get above the nearby
> buildings. Self-supporting (no guy wires) is also necessary. As for
> antennas, since the station will only be operated during school hours, I
> was thinking of just a mono-band 20 m beam for HF and a 2m/70cm vertical
> for local repeaters. Finally, in the future, I'd like to install a
> satellite array on a shorter mast, nearby.
>
> Would anybody be willing to mentor me through this process?
>
> Thank you for your time-
> Ross Tucker, PhD, NS7F
> Arizona State University / Herberger Young Scholars Academy
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