I have started the process of rebuilding my station here at the new QTH in
Texas and I did some investigating that other Towertalkans might be
interested in.
One of the changes to my new station that I wanted to make was to use
Phillystran instead of EHS Steel Guywire. I have always heard that a
Phillystran system would cost a little more, but not a lot more than the
EHS guywire because of the cost of breaking the EHS up with insulators.
That the ease of using Phillystran made the extra cost worthwhile. So I did
the math and was surprised at my findings.
The Phillystran was much, much more expensive per tower. I calculated the
lengths necessary for a single 197 foot tower. The tower will be guyed at 6
places. The first guyanchor will be at 75 feet from the base for the first
three guys and the second guyanchor for the top three guys will be 150 feet
from the base.
For prices, I went to the last issue that Texas Towers had listed tower
hardware. That issue was the February, 1997 issue and I noticed that the
prices had a healthy increase from the January, 1997 issue. I priced 1/4
inch EHS, 1/4 inch big grips, 502 insulators, 6700# Phillystran, big grips
for the 6700# Phillystran. I DID NOT price guy anchors, distribution
plates, turnbuckles, tower, and other stuff that would be common to either
an EHS or Phillystran guywire installation. Here are the numbers.
For an ALL EHS guy sustem with insulators broken up every 75 feet.
EHS Cable = 3000 feet X $.19 = $570.00
Big grips = 96 total X $4.95 = $475.20
502 Insulators = 48 total X $5.50 = $264.00
TOTAL for EHS guyed 197 foot tower = $1309.20
For a Phillystran guy system (with some EHS at each end)
Phillystran Cable = 2400 feet X $1.15 = $2760.00
Big grips for Philly = 36 total X $10.95 = $394.20
EHS cable = 540 feet X $.19 = $102.60
EHS big grips = 36 total X $4.95 = $178.20
502 Insulators = 36 total X $5.50 = $198.00
TOTAL for Phillystran guyed 197 foot tower = $3633.00
So the guying for this one tower would be $2323.80 MORE, per tower, than
the EHS plan. I decided to do one more calculation to see what the cost
would be for EHS guying, but breaking up the guy sections every 25 feet
instead of 75 feet. Here are those numbers:
For an ALL EHS guy system with insulators broken up every 25 feet.
EHS cable = 3000 feet X $.19 = $570.00
EHS big grips = 240 total X $4.95 = $1188.00
502 insulators = 120 total X $5.50 = $660.00
TOTAL for an ALL EHS tower broken up at 25 feet = $2418.00
The Phillystran guyed tower is still $1215 MORE than this tower. Since I
planned to do about four of these towers plus some Phillstran guyed
tower/verticals, I would spend over $10,000 EXTRA for the privilege to use
Phillystran. I think not. It is too expensive for me.
Comments? Anyone want to tell me why I should spend so much more money on
Phillystran? I am open to arguments for and against.
73, Richard
K5NA@BGA.COM
http://www.realtime.net/~k5na
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