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To The Average Schmuck Who Thinks He Wants A Tower

Wire Weasel

Senior Moment
Dec 13, 2008
3,107
770
223
I've been in this damm radio thing since 1976 with base stations at 4 different homes.

I've never had a tower. Never wanted a tower. Don't want a tower now. Never will want a tower.

But I've seen lots of guys go through Tower Phases, which is a verifiable psychological disorder that they have pills for now, and I feel like puking out a blog about about my great amusement which I periodically enjoy when every so often some local is stricken by this grievous malady.

You can puke out additional blog after me. Just click on "Puke out more blog" in the box below this post.

I learned long ago that: If you help assemble, install, or raise a radio associate's tower you are -

1) A glutton for punishment, or
2) Crazy

IMMEDIATELY the instant some local spits out the delirious words "Hey (insert my handle here) I'm going to get a tower !!" I quickly. calmly and firmly replay with " I don't do towers." Knowing that what the guy is doing is making the rounds fishing for help to accomplish this nearly impossible industrial task on a no doubt bare bones budget, with a utter lack of appropriate tools, materials, previous knowledge and common sense.

Then he comes back with..."You're kidding right? I might need a little help"

Me - "Sorry Chumley....I DON'T DO TOWERS

So hopefully he strikes me off his metal list and I go on about my merry way fully content with the idea that in the coming weeks and months I will get many laughs hearing all about his problems, travails, failures, bankruptcy, divorce, and finally the joyful day when his tower is actually up and completed and getting talked on, once everyone gets out of the hospital of course.

So the next local friend has just announced he has contracted this disease and that he has made a buy on a used 65' Rohn 25 for $75. Awesome deal.

But the bucks haven't even started to flow.

1st he gets to drive over two hundred miles to the next state in his big pickup truck, take the tower down, and tote it back.

Ruh row....methinks the cost it going up.

Already mentioned to him the proper base pad is going to be a nice little hole, 4 x 4 feet square and 4 feet deep, preferably filled with rebar and then there's the concrete.

Then he will find, and if he chooses to do everything right, there will be a cleaning and repainting of tower if necessary. Possible replacement of umpteen bolts, washers and nuts unless they're in excellent condition.

This 65 foot tower is going to require a good two set of heavy guy wires with the accompanying hardware and more large holes for anchoring rods and more concrete. Lot's more $$ here.

Probably new length of heavy coax call it 150 feet from antenna to shack. Good RG8 coax is $1.00 per foot anywhere these days.

This is going to be a fully assembled raise-up on a tilt-over base. Always needs a prayer ceremony first.

I'm no doubt leaving lots of stuff out and always add 10% to any gosh darned project like this to cover all the unforeseen. And plan on adding providing lunch and beer to the large hand full of helpers, on more than one occasion, to hep out with this enormous undertaking.

So I am done puking. I don't want to scare anyone away from being the proud owner of a lovely new yard ornament that all of your neighbors will love you over for years and years to come. Why....towers are just the gift that keeps on giving ! But I would want to have those tower noobies out there take note and have a long hard think over what really is exactly involved in actually putting up a tower and doing it right....lest in next week's windstorm it falls down and goes boom right on top of your ex-wife's car, who was just coming back to get her last box of china.

It takes a LOT of help. It requires a lot of help from persons who have previous experience in doing it right. And it's going to take WAY more money to get it all done that just buying that used tower you just found at a bargain price.

Good luck and enjoy your new tower :whistle:
 
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Good luck and enjoy your new tower :whistle:

Thank you. I'll enjoy every minute of owning and erecting it. Obviously you are hanging out with people that don't have a clue about towers. 65 feet of Rohn 25 for $75. I wouldn't touch it for scrap at that price. Then again maybe you don't do towers because you don't know a great deal about them either. 4x4x4 ft for guyed Rohn 25?? Rohn specs a 2 ft diameter round pier 4 ft long for Rohn 25 as being plenty adequate but IMHO guyed towers suck and freestanding towers rock.

I currently have a request for a quote into a Trylon dealer for either a 56 foot or 64 foot freestanding tower that will support a minimum of 38 square feet at 70 mph. this figure is of course derated depending in ice buildup and increased wind speed. I will erect this tower myself but may possibly enlist the use of a crane truck and set it up in one piece. All my other towers in the 40 ft class I installed by myself with a gin pole and one other person on the ground tying stuff onto the hoisting rope. Everything went like a charm. It does when you have things well thought out in advance and know what you are doing. As for the money, well that's my business how much I spend and I will know in advance of purchasing anything at all just how much the project will cost me when all is said and done. It's called knowing what you are doing and doing it right. In the end I will be purchasing and installing a new tower on a new concrete foundation,installing a new Explorer-14 tribander with 40m add-on kit, Ameritron RS-10 antenna switch, two 200 foot runs of Andrews LDF4-50 as well as at least two 200 ft runs of RG-213 as well as a 200 ft run of rotator cable all of which will be buried in a conduit. Speaking of rotators, I will be ordering a new Alpha-Spid RAK rotator in the coming weeks after I get a final price on the tower. There will be a couple more antennas (six element 6m and Cushcraft A3 modified for 12/17m) installed as well as three or four half slopers for 80m. I can see no reason why I cannot install everything mentioned above myself with the help of one other person simply tying things onto the hoisting rope as needed. Even a monkey can do that. I feel confidant in what I say about that because I KNOW WHAT I AM DOING AND HAVE DONE IT BEFORE. It's not easy but then again anything good usually is not. I will NEVER install a guyed tower and will NEVER EVER install a push-up pole. I will however be more than happy to install a freestanding tower AFTER all the plan has been worked out. As for the cost, well I have two choices. Spend the money and enjoy life and what it has to offer or stash it away and try and take it with me when I die. For me it's a no-brainer.


On edit: LOL at the above posts. I got called away while typing and took about 20 minutes to finish and didn't see anything other than the first post. LOL.
 
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Oh please

My post is mostly in jest. Helping friends work on a worthy project is great. Merely part of what friendship is about. It's the Amish barn raising thing.

My point is many times it does happen that inexperienced gung-ho CBer's take on a massive project having little real clue what all work, trouble and expense is really involved.

And for the record, I mean what I say. Don't want a tower, never will, wouldn't put one up if I were given one.

Puke on
 
Geeze not only is my wife beautiful but she must really be a saint!! I have a large tower (infront of my country home) and 2 more to put up by the other outside building. I have 2 antennas on the roof 3 on the tower thats up now. 2 antennas on both vehicles along with HF and 2 meters - 70cm in each vehicle.

Now my wife is a licensed operator along with 2 of 4 kids youngest is working on it now anyways my wife does not even talk on the radio as much as I do but understands I LIKE THE RADIOS!! We have that understanding of oneanother and we like what we like and each respect eachothers likes and or dislikes maybe thats why we have made it 16 1/2 years already.

I look at it this way you plan what your doing when you are spending money and you damn well better do it right thats why you dont rush and think it out ask questions and you get things here and there and when its all figured out and you are looking at everything needed right there infront of you its time to put it up.

You can put up tripods or differnt roof mounts and they to can still be torn out and cause damage and damage is money and sometimes lots of it!! Like anyother hobby rather it be racing or building fireworks or owning exotic animals such as large cats ACCIDENTS CAN UNFORTUNATELY HAPPEN and there will be a cost almost guaranteed when they do. If one does not understand or know anything about towers or does not like towers then by all means that person does not belong at the scene because lack of interest and knowing is a setup for a catastophic misshap.

It takes a real man to admit and be honest when saying HELL NO DONT WANT ANYTHING TO DO WITH THAT!! Its better than going ahhhh welll okay I guess Ill help if you want me to this is where things already get dangerous LOL!! I guess I just learned another reason to absolutely cherish and love my understanding wife ;).
 
That pretty confirms the suspicions guys. He wouldn't put up a tower even if he was given one because his wife says he can't put one up. :laugh: :pop:

seriously rumbled. pmsl.:pop:

i bet if the urantia book advocated using towers for inter galactic communications with god he'd have one up in a shot.;) thats is if her indoors allows it.
 
We have that understanding of oneanother and we like what we like and each respect eachothers likes and or dislikes maybe thats why we have made it 16 1/2 years already.

i admire your faith in the stability of oestrogen Tony, but having been through a court case for custody of my kid (which i won incidentally, studying phsycology came in handy on that one), i can readily assure you that godforbid if you reach that stage her likes and dislikes may change abruptly, her understanding may fade in significance compared to the devilish phsychosis that replaces it and theres a very strong possiblity your tower may be reduced to a pile of scrap as oestrogenic insanity kicks in.


Complacency around women is a bit like singing onward christian soldiers in an al quaeda training camp. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED ;)

She may be beautiful now, but one day in the future she may make a rottweiler chewing a wasp look very calm.
 
LMA:LOL:!! @ Jazz Believe me I undstand totally what your saying I have seen it happen a few times a few days out of every month most women become the devils worst nightmare ;)
 
Thanks Tony, great comments.

This of course has nothing to do with getting anyone's permission to erect an antenna support structure.

It's more akin to the bible story about the foolish man who set out to build a house but he didn't "count the cost" beforehand. So he got started but couldn't finish the job and then faced ridicule from his buddies. And buddies always ridicule each other.....just like they do here on this forum :D
 
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Freestanding tower. No guys.

Couldn't get a decent signal out without it here.

If I lived around good trees it would be different.

To each his or her own.
 

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