I have 3 towers, 30 feet of 25g that has a pair of long boom 2 meter yagi's
and a 432 yagi above them, an old Wilson rotating tower with 5 over 5 on 6
meters and a rohn bx series that 2 meters is going to move to. None of them
cost me over $1000. Scrounge and look for deals, dig the hole yourself.
Biggest cost is concrete.
-----Original Message-----
From: towertalk-bounces@contesting.com
[mailto:towertalk-bounces@contesting.com]On Behalf Of Tom Horton
Sent: Monday, August 23, 2004 11:40 PM
To: Bill Coleman; Jim Lux
Cc: TowerTalk
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] ballpark costs for a tower (installed)
Bill said
"If you write an article saying that even a modest tower will cost $3-7
large ones, there's a lot of would-be tower builders out there who may
likely give up the hobby."
Bill,
Boy, do I agree with you.
If putting out that many large for a tower and antenna
was the norm for most of us, I fear that most of us
would not be on the air !
Hams used to be cheap and scroungers...what has happened to us?
My tower is a few old sections of 25G and just scrounged 1
or possibly 2 more today. My quad has been moved and rebuilt
a bunch of times and it's getting ready to be rebuilt and installed
again here in TX (where it got started).
No wonder a lot of folks think ham radio is a rich man's hobby.
Doesn't have to be if you are resourceful enough!
73, tom K5IID
Bill Coleman <aa4lr@arrl.net> wrote:
On Aug 23, 2004, at 8:48 PM, Jim Lux wrote:
> What's a good ballpark number to use for the cost of buying and
> installing a typical medium height tower (i.e. say, 50-75 ft, crankup,
> etc) with a multiband 3 element beam.
That depends. How good of a scrounger are you?
> raw tower+mast+bracketry is going to set you back about $1500-3000
> (don't forget you've got shipping, too)
> (+ another 1000 if you want a motor to raise and lower it)
> rotator at around $500-600
> antenna around $500-1000
> Cabling (rotator, controls, coax) $200
> Installation (digging the hole, buying the concrete, etc.) $500-2500
> (probably towards the high end, unless labor is really cheap)
>
> Totals $3200 - 7300
Yeesh! I installed my tower and antenna for less than $1000.
Let's see, it broke down something like this:
4 sections plus top section & shelf = 5 x $30 (used) = $150.
2 HD25B brackets = $240. (new)
Ham-M rotator = $50 (broken) + $10 parts = $60
Hardware = $30. (new)
Rebar & Concrete = $150 (new)
Concrete mixer rental = $45
Labor = $0 (me!)
Mast = $0 (thank you K9AY!)
Tribander = $400 (purchased years before)
Cables / Coax = $110
Connectors, wx-proof boxes = $25
Permits = $45
Result - A3S at 15m, on a 44 feet of tower with nearly 6 feet of mast.
> I realize that one can greatly reduce many of these by clever
> shopping, scrounging, doing the work yourself (or having a bunch of
> friends come over for a tower raising party), but, then, you're
> essentially trading time for money, so I wanted to figure what it
> would cost if you just paid to have the work done.
But, but, but, doing all the work was fun! (well, digging the hole
wasn't so fun....)
Heck, the re-build of the tribander probably cost me $1000, if I
charged by the hour...
> I assumed a crankup, because I assumed that your local PRB-1 compliant
> community will probably impose a "crank up only when in use"
> requirement. A fixed tower w/guys would be substantially cheaper,
> purchase wise, but might cost just as much by the time you figure in
> guys, anchors, additional installation time, etc.
Bracketed tower is a good compromise. All the advantages of guying
without the expense and massive concrete footings of a crank-up.
> Likewise, regulatory compliance could set you back a substantial chunk
> of change, depending on where you live (Thousand Oaks, CA had a $1000
> antenna permit fee at one time, and may still do, plus the cost of
> dealing with the hearing)
If you write an article saying that even a modest tower will cost $3-7
large ones, there's a lot of would-be tower builders out there who may
likely give up the hobby.
Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL Mail: aa4lr@arrl.net
Quote: "Not within a thousand years will man ever fly!"
-- Wilbur Wright, 1901
_______________________________________________
See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless
Weather Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any
questions and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
_______________________________________________
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http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
We can never, never forget !
Tom Horton K5IID
Hillsboro, TX
USA-CA All Counties 661---DXCC---5 BAND DXCC
WPX HONOR ROLL---5 BAND WAC---WAZ
Finally back home in Texas after all these years!
"E" sorter for the ARRL W5 QSL bureau
_______________________________________________
See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless
Weather Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any
questions and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
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_______________________________________________
See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless Weather
Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any questions
and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
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