After being licensed 22 years, I'm FINALLY getting around to putting up my
first tower! The plan is for 87 ft of 45G (eight regular sections and a
flat top), guyed with Phillystran. Initially, I will put a C4XL on top,
and if I like that, I'll probably add a couple of sidemount C3s. I poured
the base last week, and just finished the guy anchor points this wknd.
My goal is to have the thing up in time for SS CW in three weeks.
So here are the questions:
1) The Rohn book for 90 ft of 45G says guys at 39 and 85 ft for 110 mph.
But my total ht to the flat top will be abt 87 ft. Having the top guy
point only two ft below the top sounds awkward to me. Won't that kinda be
in the way when I'm working on the C4XL? Would I be better off moving it
down to 82 ft, or maybe just attach right to the top plate? (Can you tell
I have very little experience working on towers?!)
2) I was just about to start driving copper ground rods when someone told
me I need to use galvanized rods instead for the tower. Engineering
school is just a vague memory these days, but I can see how this makes
sense. I'm leaning toward the 9-rod installation (3 per leg), but my
question is, what should I use to connect the rods, assuming copper is
verboten?
3) I have a 10-ft mast which is sufficient for just the C4XL. But I'd
eventually like to have a nice 20-ft mast for flexibility in adding more
antennas later. I think I can get what I need through a friend who runs a
local metal shop. The only problem is it will probably not arrive until
after SS CW. I think it would be much easier to build the tower around a
20-ft mast and pull it up through the middle than it would be to install
it after the tower is up. So do I just wait until I have the 20-ft mast
in hand before erecting the tower, or is there some trick to installing it
after the fact (say, next spring)?
4) I just recently re-subscribed to the towertalk reflector and saw the
end of a thread about a 10 mtr mod to the C3. Does the same mod apply to
the C4XL? Where can I get details?
73,
Tim Totten, n4gn@iglou.com
http://www.iglou.com/n4gn/
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