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Looking to put up a new tower. need help

S

Sambo460

Member
Dec 14, 2010
9
0
11
Exmore Virginia
Im running my first base radio setup. ive always ran mobile. Im running my a99 on a tenn foot pole outside the house. i dont have enough height right now but Im looking for pictures of any other members towers for ideas. Ive thought about using a peice of irrigation pipe or wood. please help.:whistle:
 

If you are a guy looking to do it on the cheap ( or a tight ass like me), it's easy to get a free tower.

Cable and sat TV has pretty much killed the need for big TV towers. Many will be glad for you to remove one for free.

Then you just need to make a good base for it.

The concrete is the biggest part not to scrimp on. I wouldn't use less than a yard for one. The hole is best if you dig it with the bottom bigger than the top, like a bell shape.
 
I get used towers 25g towers all the time for free. Most people just want them out of the yard. Concrete the base in a 3x3x4' deep hole and you can freestand it with an a99 at 60 ft. . As previously p .osted though, dont go light on the concrete.. I am putting up a 65g right now 150' high and you wouldnt believe how much concrete it takes.
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project said:
I get used towers 25g towers all the time for free. Most people just want them out of the yard. Concrete the base in a 3x3x4' deep hole and you can freestand it with an a99 at 60 ft. . As previously p .osted though, dont go light on the concrete.. I am putting up a 65g right now 150' high and you wouldnt believe how much concrete it takes.
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Click to expand...


I wouldn't recommend freestanding 60 feet of Rohn 25g. In fact Rohn recommends two levels of guys for 60 feet of 25g, one at 28 feet and the other at 55 feet. A 3x3x4 bast won't move but the tower may well buckle in a high wind.

ROHN 25G Tower Series - Find 25 G Tower Series Specifications
 
Rohn has to advise differently due to insurance reasons. I have taken down several freestanding 60' towers that had been there for years. One even had an m105 on it until a storm tore it to pieces but the tower was fine. Wdith an a99 or similar antenna it would probably take a hurricane to bring it down.
I get used towers 25g towers all the time for free. Most people just want them out of the yard. Concrete the base in a 3x3x4' deep hole and you can fr
Click to expand...


I wouldn't recommend freestanding 60 feet of Rohn 25g. In fact Rohn recommends two levels of guys for 60 feet of 25g, one at 28 feet and the other at 55 feet. A 3x3x4 bast won't move but the tower may well buckle in a high wind.

ROHN 25G Tower Series - Find 25 G Tower Series Specifications
Click to expand...


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They still make 30,35,40,50 foot push up poles (telescoping sections) Will need at least 1 set of guy wires for that too. Would be the cheapest & easiest bet for gaining a little height if you have no good trees near the house - even if you had to pay someone to climb - to put the antenna up in the top of.

Don't kid yourself - properly installing a 60 foot tower is so much work and will require so much help to do you'll think you built half a house by the time it's all over.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do!
 
project said:
Rohn has to advise differently due to insurance reasons. I have taken down several freestanding 60' towers that had been there for years. One even had an m105 on it until a storm tore it to pieces but the tower was fine. Wdith an a99 or similar antenna it would probably take a hurricane to bring it down.


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Click to expand...


Maybe you don't get the wind we do on occasion here but here is no way in hell you would catch me on a 60 piece of 25g with out any guys attached working on a large yagi like an M105. I use only true freestanding towers that are designed to be used that way and I know how much they will withstand and move in a high wind and they are MUCH stronger than 25g. I have yet to see 60 feet of Rohn 25g freestanding free and clear of any guys or house brackets that would support any kind of large beam like an M-105 in much of a wind. Tapered true freestanding towers in the order of 60 feet designed to be used without guy wires are MUCH, MUCH more robust than Rohn 25g. If the 25g was bracketed to the eve of a house halfway up or so then I would say OK maybe but not totally standing on it's own. Personally I prefer to go by what the manufacturer says and be safe. I figure he knows more about what his product will stand than I doafter all it's MY life at stake while I am on the tower.
 
Thats true but he is running an antron 99 and not a beam.. i took my 25 down and am going back up with 65 because im using a large beam and the concrete im using for the guys would detur most people from doing it . The tower i took down was 30' away from any structure with no guys with a large broken beam on it. I have taken down at least 40 towers that had the guys rusted off or were removed at some point and were free standing. With an antron 99 i stand by my previous post. It would take a hurricane to take it down.
Rohn has to advise differently due to insurance reasons. I have taken down several freestanding 60' towers that had been there for years. One even had
Click to expand...


Maybe you don't get the wind we do on occasion here but here is no way in hell you would catch me on a 60 piece of 25g with out any guys attached working on a large yagi like an M105. I use only true freestanding towers that are designed to be used that way and I know how much they will withstand and move in a high wind and they are MUCH stronger than 25g. I have yet to see 60 feet of Rohn 25g freestanding free and clear of any guys or house brackets that would support any kind of large beam like an M-105 in much of a wind. Tapered true freestanding towers in the order of 60 feet designed to be used without guy wires are MUCH, MUCH more robust than Rohn 25g. If the 25g was bracketed to the eve of a house halfway up or so then I would say OK maybe but not totally standing on it's own. Personally I prefer to go by what the manufacturer says and be safe. I figure he knows more about what his product will stand than I doafter all it's MY life at stake while I am on the tower.
Click to expand...


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Antenna tripod on the roof.

Either lag bolt it into studs, or put 2x4s on the other side to give the lag bolts something to bite into. 1/2" or 3/4" of plywood just isn't enough.

A 5 foot tripod bolted into studs, with 10 ft of rigid mast in it will support your A99 perfectly.

I actually run a 3 ft tripod. In hindsight, I wish I got the 5 ft foot tripod. But I've also got about 15 ft of mast in mine, guyed at about the 14 ft mark with some thick aircraft cable, with the eyeloops set into studs. Maco V58 on top, about 31 ft total above ground.

On the 10m amateur band, I have worked a majority of Central and South America. I also make regular contact with a group of fellows in Louisiana.

Record contacts include Aruba, Tahiti, Tasmania, and South Africa. All on 10m through that Maco V58. Locally, even with hilly terrain, I get about 30 miles of base-to-base comms. I'm running about 100w or so.

Don't underestimate your feedline either. Use quality RG8U, and be sure to seal your connectors with electrical tape and RTV.
 
I stacked 60 feet of Rohn25 for a friend before. Just 2 of us put it up in half a day with the exception of the base.

Started out with burying a 55 gallon drum, pouring concrete and shoving a section of tower in it. Rebar would have beem smarter but this was not used as its been almost 8 years and the tower was still up last I checked.

Stacked the first 30' by hand and it went real easy but the taller it got the more it shook with me trying to balance a 10' section of tower above my head so.

I made a "jin-pole" out of a 20' section of heavy pipe, and u-bolt and flat plates for clams, 3 of them. A pulley and rope were attached to the top of this pipe

The idea was to pull the top of the pipe to the top of the tower, attach the ubolts and then slide the pipe up through the ubolts untill it was 11 or 12 feet above the top of the tower.

Then we just used the rope attached to the pipe to pull the next section up, bolt the section in place and repeat all over again.

This is how big towers are stacked, with a jin pole. Its so easy they literally stack themselves.

The biggest problem I ran into was the legs of the last few sections didnt line up. I beat, banged, rocked, shook, cursed and pried to get the legs to line up but it was futile, until I took a break and thought of better.

If you have an ill fitting section that dont line up, send that section back to the ground and measure how far apart the legs are with a tape on your top section, and have your buddy on the ground bend the legs on the top to those measurements.

Or better yet, test fit all of this before you begin stacking.

Also you may need a hammer and block of wood to beat the sections together.
 

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