I read an earlier reply to your post, and must agree that if there are CC&R
or zoning restrictions against your tower, you can get in serious trouble if
someone "rats you out" for building the tower without proper authority.
That being said, I like the idea of disguising the system with camouflage.
I have seen a number of cell-phone towers that look like trees, but I
understand that they are outrageously expensive. I attempted to contact the
manufacturer of one of these to see if I could purchase some fake foliage to
cover the top few feet of a commercial installation I am in the process of
building, but was told that they would only sell me the whole "stock" tower.
We never got to the point of discussing the price, but I understand it was
around $500,000 for a 100 footer! As I recall, the company was called
Valmont, and they specialize in street light and traffic light poles.
Here is an opportunity for some enterprising person looking for need to
fill! 'Modular' Epoxy leaves and branches for visual mitigation of
antennas. My partner and I were willing to invest up to $10,000 to cover
about 10 feet of Rohn 25G with a one-bay FM broadcast antenna on it that
stuck up above a tree canopy. We were told by the zoning people that they
would happily approve such a solution, but none existed. We eventually were
approved without the additional cover, but it was two years and 5 hearings
later!
Ron N6AHA
-----Original Message-----
From: Dave Anderson <KW4DA@home.com>
To: Tower Talk <towertalk@contesting.com>
To: <towertalk@contesting.com>
Date: Sunday, March 21, 1999 7:03 PM
Subject: [TowerTalk] US Towers MA-550 Tubular Tower
>
>Hello All,
>
>I need some advice and/or suggestions on what I should do. I live in
>one of those places where towers are not allowed. I essentially live in
>a forest however with 50 to 65 foot trees all around my property. I
>have a space in the rear yard that I could erect a MA-550 tower with a
>small TH-3 beam or something on it. My idea is to disguise it to look
>like a Poplar tree (I have lots of these trees) since this type of tree
>is straight as an arrow. I feel it will fade into the forest if it
>looks like one of the other trees in the yard.
>
>Here's my question. What if anything has anyone used to disguise a
>tower and beam with paint and plastic vegetation? Most fake flowers and
>plants use some kind of wire internal support. If used in moderation,
>will the effect of these wires effect beam performance? I would
>appreciate it very much if anyone has any suggestions, except to move of
>course.
>
>73'
>
>Thanks in Advance,
>
>Dave, KW4DA
>
>
>--
>FAQ on WWW: http://www.contesting.com/towertalkfaq.html
>Submissions: towertalk@contesting.com
>Administrative requests: towertalk-REQUEST@contesting.com
>Problems: owner-towertalk@contesting.com
>Search: http://www.contesting.com/km9p/search.htm
>
--
FAQ on WWW: http://www.contesting.com/towertalkfaq.html
Submissions: towertalk@contesting.com
Administrative requests: towertalk-REQUEST@contesting.com
Problems: owner-towertalk@contesting.com
Search: http://www.contesting.com/km9p/search.htm
|