Instead of looking at the negative side lets look at the positive side. I had
a g5rv at 60 feet with an R7 at 30 and I went to a Force 12 C4 at 40 feet and
I don't have a problem working DX in or out of pile ups( running only 100
watts). There are other important factors that might help Steve out such as
location ( does he live on top of a hill). I agree that if you can it's nice
to have a antenna as high as possible but it's not always practical. The area
I live in would fight me to the bitter end if I went over 35
feet.............ok, in the last 3 months my mast has grown 5 feet but I'm the
only one who's noticed (i hope). I love my antenna and I don't have a problem
leaving it at 40 feet. Steve, if you can get a yagi up at 40 feet you will
enjoy it. Just have fun. DX is not just fun for people with antenna's in the
clouds, its fun for everybody. I could put a shopping cart on my roof and add
some radials and have a great time.
remember: DX is!
not: DX is only for people with high antenna's.
Happy holidays everyone!
73, Doug w6ty
ps- Steve, I went around to my neighbors and told them I was thinking about
installing a bigger antenna. I brought them into my shack. Then I showed
them my generator and explained to them if we ever had a big earthquake I
would be able to get info out to loved ones and if my neighbors were hurt or
needed to get word out I would be happy to help them out too. Every neighbor
said, "go ahead we don't have a problem". They were all excited to have
someone like me nearby in case of an emergency.
"D. Rodman, MD" wrote:
> Steve, you have a potentially complicated situation. Your town has a very
> restrictive ordinance against towers. In my experience, you may have a 20
> feet above the roof line ATTACHED TO THE STRUCTURE limit. If you are not
> sure, check it out right now. Variances are very difficult to obtain.
> Every town has different regulations. You will, at least, have to get
> permission from every neighbor in certain close proximity. It might be a
> few houses or it might be a radius distance. You will probably run into a
> scenario where speaking to everyone first is necessary. Going from house
> to house is a bit embarassing. Be sure NOT to point out what you are
> doing is legal, a potential eyesore and might interfere with every
> "home entertainment device" in a 500 ft radius. You might be surprised
> with the immediate "nice" "friendly" responses from you potential new
> happy neighbors at first. However, when the town meeting comes up you
> might be surprised by the negative or just plain unsupportive things that
> could be said. If your town is like mine, JUST ONE MINOR NEGATIVE COMMENT
> will sink you. The thing you have to know, is these people on your town
> board are likely on the take. In my town, a certain lawyer takes just
> about all the variance cases. The fee is $5K. That is for one meeting.
> Yes, you get your permit for your sign or whatever, but at what cost? Not
> one person on this reflector will tell you that 40 ft is a decent height
> for working DX. Yes, it might work really well, if all you want to do is
> ragchew on 20 to your cousin in St. Louie or work Europeans or South
> America on 10 or 15. It is a low height to really enjoy things and have a
> super good time at it. It does not give you much advantage in the
> "pileups" or much height to put up a decent low band dipole. Now on to
> you plans to get a higher tower and use it at 40 ft until the variance
> comes through. BAD IDEA. The town will not like this. They might NOT
> issue you a building permit. That is necessary because it goes into
> concrete. Every footing needs a building permit. The argument will be,
> you can raise it when nobody is looking and not be in compliance with the
> ordinance. So what, right? Wrong. How would you like it if the
> neighbors second unlicensed car magically appeared with a license plate
> every time you called and complained about the piece of junk sitting on
> your property line? They will say, you can't apply for the permit unless
> you own the property. If you do, fine. If you have not closed, they will
> not even talk to you. You can go down there a million times, but I bet
> you they will not give you anything in writing until you actually own the
> house. Get everything in print too. On the other negative side of this
> plan, you have to get a engineering stamp from a NY state licensed
> Professional Engineer. He will have to review and RECALCULATE the tower
> plan from US Tower. In order to certify the structure, he just won't take
> the certification from a California stamp. His license is on the line if
> it falls and kills your neighbor's cat. Unless you are luck to know a PE
> or your brother-in-law is one who will look the other way, you will find
> this will run about a thousand dollars for the plans. There will be many
> questions about the antenna and the issue of "ice". When was the last
> time you had 3 inches of radial ice on anything in Fishkill with 50 mph
> winds? You know your tower is built like a brick, but the Uniform
> Building Code treats it differently. Engineers love to be anal retentives
> about small details, you know. Now, lets say you have gotten frustrated
> now and decided to consult the ARRL about this. They are our saviour,
> right? Wrong. Yes, they know about PRB-1 and Federal interests and the
> like, but there NO absolute cases that will get you a 55 or higher foot
> antenna with a 40 foot restriction. There certainly HAVE been cases where
> lower height restrictions have been overturned in NY by lengthy court
> cases and expensive litigation. The hams have individually bore the costs
> of this and in my experience, since case law is not necessarily
> transferable, the next guy might have to do it too. That is very
> expensive. It might run you $5-10K without a hint of any outside
> financial help to do this. I would ask you, Steve, to be very cautious
> about your expectations and limitations before getting into this project.
> I am very familiar with it, because I ran into similar roadblocks.
> Finally, I got so frustrated by the whole situation, I purchased a country
> property and moved the bulk of my serious operating there. I have found
> that the residential restrictions of height and electrical noise and
> consumer electronic "interference" were not worth the hassle. Be
> carefull, the town is not your friend on this project. Good luck!!
>
> David J. Rodman, MD
> Assistant Clinical Professor
> Department of Ophthalmology
> State University of New York at Buffalo
>
> FAX 716-859-4565
> Office 716-854-1137
>
> e-mail: rodman@acsu.buffalo.edu
>
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