When I was KP4EAJ in San Juan, I lived on old Navy Base at Isla Grande.
I
was not allowed to pour a cement base there. I used the rohn 25G dirt
base
to hold the 25G foldover tower with one section above the hinge and one
below the hinge for a total of 60 feet with a TH-6 on top. I got 40 feet
of
it up myself. The next day w2gd arrived an put up the rest so he could
operate in one of the sprints. It held up through 4 or 5 hurricanes over
the 4 years I was down there. When we took the tower down and pulled out
the dirt base, it looked like new. It wasn't like I didn't want a cement
base but when the military says no cement, then CHAMPIONS ADJUST !! . I
was probably lucky but it worked for me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A lot depends on the type of soil....if it's acidic, you're screwed. I've
seen tower stored on its side on Georgia clay for a couple of years and it
was already corroded where it touched the ground.
The issue isn't if it could stand up to winds, but rather if corrosion
would rot the steel buried below the ground. The idea is to keep moisture
away from constant contact with the steel. That is why it is not smart to
"pretty up" the raised tower base by putting wood mulch above the tower base
where it touches the tower. it also is the reson for putting pea gravel
under the tower legs, so the moisture which accumulates in the legs can
"drain out". If the legs are "stuck" in the soil the water has a hard time
draining.
Bill KH7XS/K4XS
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