Dave, I can only respond to a few of your concerns, but I'm sure others
on TowerTalk will throw in their 35 cents worth.
First, take a look at http://www.qsl.net/mparc/towers.txt which is an
excellent collection of information regarding guyed towers. There is
much collective wisdom to be found there.
Regarding tower placement, the rule of thumb is a minimum of 50 feet
away from the nearest person or structure. A tower will tend to
attract lightning, so you don't want to attract it right near your home
or family. The key is not to try to prevent lightning strikes with
snake oil gadgets, but to control the strike energy so it is dissipated
safely.
I had originally planned to place my self-supporting crank-up tower
next to my house. I had the plans all approved and the contractor was
ready to put in the pad. Then I had the good fortune to meet two
application engineers from Polyphaser who lived nearby (the Polyphaser
plant is only about five miles away).
They were kind enough to help me design the system. The tower was
placed 50 feet away from the nearest structure, a 180 degree energy
dissipation radial ground field was put in fanning out away from the
house, and all cables were run underground. There were a lot of other
lightning protection steps taken, but your first order of business
should be to get a copy of Polyphaser's "Grounds For Lightning
Protection." You can get copies from AES, Davis RF and Champion Radio
Products for around $25.
Because my tower is self-supporting I didn't have to concern myself
with guy wires and anchors, but I am sure they need to be provided for
within the lightning protection measures. Again, I would refer you to
Polyphaser's book.
Finally, as far as using a tall mast to get our antenna up and away
from the tower and its guy wires, that shouldn't be a problem. I have
16 feet of mast extending out the top of my tower with a two element 40
meter yagi at the very top of it. All(?) that is required is that the
tower and mast be strong enough to take the load.
http://www.qsl.net/w6old/antenna.html has pictures and more details of
the installation.
Good luck. There is a lot of information to be found on TowerTalk and
within its archives. Take your time. I gathered information for over
a year before I began my installation and I'm still learning.
73, Dick
--
Dick Flanagan W6OLD CFII Minden, Nevada DM09db (South of Reno)
Visit http://www.qsl.net/cvrc/
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