Just take a good look at a tall windmill. Not much in the way of
engineering and relatively easy to build.
Say...I just thought of some photos of a "roll your own tower". I know I
have them, I just have to find them.
73
Roger (K8RI)
Gary "Joe" Mayfield wrote:
> I have always found the one man tower intriguing. Maybe they would sell
> plans you could fabricate locally.
>
> http://users.spin.net.au/~aeitower/
>
> 73,
> Joe kk0sd
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: towertalk-bounces@contesting.com
> [mailto:towertalk-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of veblencf
> Sent: Sunday, January 24, 2010 1:22 PM
> To: Tower and HF antenna construction topics.
> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] "Roll your own" tower/mast.
>
> John, This may be a bit simplistic but it may also resolve
> your issues.
> It has recently come to my attention that my local PUD while
> removing power poles that have been trimmed by a fast moving
> vehicle have needed a way to conveniently dispose of these
> power poles that are now excess to their needs. Also, they
> are no longer tall enough to match the other power poles.
> The crews removing the poles have been known to leave them
> on various neighbors property in a upright position suitable
> for use as antenna. Did I mention that these dimensionally
> challenged poles still range in length from 45 to 60 feet
> long??, this is down from their original height of 90 feet
> prior to “ vehicular pruning”??
>
> The acquisition cost for the neighbor was to have his power
> bill up to date and a rack of beverage left on the bonnet of
> the truck not to mention that they knew of his being a Ham
> Operator.
>
> While at my Rotary meeting as I sat next to the PUD
> Operations Manager, I mentioned that I’d heard about an
> antenna farm (2 former power poles) having been
> accomplished during the late fall planting season. He smiled
> and responded with the rather bland statement that “they
> had been assisting a Ham Operator with some of his frequency
> issues”. He believed that they had, for the most part,
> been “able to resolve most of his issues”. ;o)
>
> The most important caveat involved here is that they were
> local to the recipient as versus being brought from the
> south end of the county to the north end.
>
> Good luck finagling yourself an antenna farm. Hope this
> helps. Chris Veblen, kf7cob
>
>
>
>
>> Hello jimlux, thank you for your response and suggestions.
>> I will take all your points into consideration, and I can
>> confirm that access to the site is clear, and any lifting
>> problems can easily be resolved. Sincerely, John G3JVC.
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: towertalk-bounces@contesting.com
>> [mailto:towertalk-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of
>> jimlux Sent: 24 January 2010 18:21
>> To: Tower and HF antenna construction topics.
>> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] "Roll your own" tower/mast.
>>
>> John E. Cleeve wrote:
>>
>>> Gentlemen,
>>>
>>> I would be grateful for constructive comment on the
>>>
>> following problem. I am
>>
>>> in the market for a couple of 100ft towers or masts, the
>>>
>> problem is that in
>>
>>> the UK there are very few manufacturers or suppliers,
>>> and those that can supply new, usually import their
>>>
>> wares from abroad. However, one quotation I
>>
>>> received from a UK manufacturer was for approximately
>>> 12000 GBP per mast (guyed), at the factory gate,
>>> carriage, guy anchorages and erection of the m
>>>
>> $20K plus! clearly, you're paying a lot for the labor,
>> since the metal cost is a tiny fraction of that.
>>
>> What you get with a conventional lattice type tower is a
>> tradeoff of lower mass for more labor to build it. The
>> lower mass buys you lower material cost (which is a tiny
>> fraction of overall cost), but more importantly, the
>> ability to erect a tall tower in pieces, by relatively
>> few people.
>>
>> However, think differently..
>> Are you mass constrained? Particularly for erection? Do
>> you have room to assemble the entire mast on the ground
>> before erection? Can you hire a 100 ft crane for, say,
>> GBP1000 that can lift a few tons to 60 feet? (assuming a
>> slightly above midpoint "pick").
>>
>>
>>
>> What about a suitable piece of iron/steel pipe (or, more
>> properly, a series of pieces of pipe of decreasing
>> diameter). Or stacked telephone poles?
>>
>>
>> Yes, it's not what most hams use, because a 20 foot
>> section of 6" diameter pipe weighs a LOT (about 600 lb)..
>> you're hardly going to bring it home on the car top, or
>> lift it up with a couple helpers and the "iwo jima"
>> approach. However, particularly if you can find a surplus
>> source for the pipe. Scrap steel, is, I think, around
>> $0.25/lb these days, so a 20 foot length of 6" pipe with
>> 1/2" wall is going to set you back around $150-200..
>> Call it a couple thousand dollars for 100 ft worth, by the
>> time you fabricate it.
>>
>> Actually, I'd be looking around for aluminum irrigation
>> tubing in large diameters and use many tiers of guys.
>> Around here, there's quite a bit of it available, but
>> that's because there's significant agriculture (I live
>> near the coastal plain in Southern California.. strawberry
>> and sod capital of the world, I think). I don't know if
>> temporary irrigation is something that is common in the
>> UK (given that water falls from the sky directly upon the
>> plain beneath, and doesn't need to be carried for
>> hundreds of miles from the source)
>>
>> It's possible, although tricky, to erect something like
>> this without a crane, but you're going to spend a lot of
>> time and analysis figuring out how to lift it without it
>> buckling, probably involving truss and cable stiffening.
>> Think of sailboat (or sailing ship) masts.
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> TowerTalk mailing list
>> TowerTalk@contesting.com
>> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
>> No virus found in this incoming message.
>> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
>> Version: 9.0.730 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2642 - Release
>> Date: 01/24/10 07:33:00
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> TowerTalk mailing list
>> TowerTalk@contesting.com
>> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
>>
> _______________________________________________
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> TowerTalk mailing list
> TowerTalk@contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
>
> _______________________________________________
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> TowerTalk mailing list
> TowerTalk@contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
>
>
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
|