Hi,
I was referred to this group by the folks over at SEDXC. I have scoured your
archives for mention of this tower, but either my search skills fail me or
this thing really is one-of-a-kind. There were some folks over at eHam that
heard of it, but not in years, and none of them had any data much except they
believed the tower was as old as I am (40).
I want to install this tower, and I want to do it properly. I've spent money
just getting it on-site, and I'm willing to spend more to install it as it
should be installed. To this end, I've assembled some bits and pieces toward
the project, but I'm just not clear how to best proceed. I really want to do
the work myself if possible, not out of penny-pinching as much as I'd like to
have the sense of accomplishment.
What I have so far:
A Tri-Ex 71' HZN-471 Crank Up Tower (pictures on the link below)
http://168.28.186.6/techshop/cfp/tower/tower.htm
A Cushcraft A4S with the A744 add-on for 40m
(no pix yet, but I've ordered the rebuild kit from Cushcraft and might make
some pictures of the rebuild process to help others down the line, if anybody
thinks this is worth doing)
No rotor/thrust bearing/whatever yet
There are a dozen sites that lovingly detail the installation of a tower, but
while they are all similar they are all different, too. My tower, as you can
see from the pictures, is older (40 yrs?) and is thus no longer supported by
engineering drawings or anything per Karl at Tashtowers, the successor company
to Tri-Ex. The closest thing seems to be the LM-470, but the
detail in the engineering drawings for the base isn't really clear to me.
The guys on eHam said the tower seemed sound in the pictures, but that was
about the extent of what they were able to say. I believe they were all in
California, so an on-site inspection was out of the question.
Is there a site I've missed that has good newbie tower base information? The
only time I ever did concrete was putting up 12' satellite dishes...this is a
quantum leap, and I'm very aware that once I've poured 4 yds of concrete,
it's forever.
I'd be particularly interested in the experiences of anyone who has put up a
similar tower, but I would be grateful for any advice, links, expressions of
pity, and especially any input that gets me closer to seeing this beast
vertical instead of lying on the ground.
I'm perfectly willing to be handed a link with good info, if I have merely
overlooked it. I just can't find anything on my own that's coming across
with the sort of clarity I'd like to have.
Thanks in advance,
Jeff/KD4RBG
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