Hi to All,
I am a new member to this fine forum of information "Tower Talk".
I have just purchased a 80' crank up Tower . Dont know the manufacture .
This tower is extremely heavy (two guys can barely lift it off the ground)
it's galvanized and is in 20' telescopic lengths.it is made of 1" tubing,
the largest section is 14" x 14" x 14" (a triangular design) (inside ones
are smaller than the next 4 total= 80') The tower has "ears" at the top of
each section or tabs to connect guy wires to them. The tower is a ladder
design and cross bars are horizontal (ladder type) not Chris-cross . A bar
design,(as opposed to a (X) design.) I hear this is not strong like the X
design.
It can be laid over on two bolts/pins, tilt up into place and then one
would add the third pin to the base plate.
these bolts don't seem strong enough to do much of anything other than to
keep it into place on the 3/4' steel base plate which has 4 large holes at
the corners for the base bolts (1" I think) the use of 2' long "J" bolts
might work well here.
I was thinking of a 3x3x3 base pour 4" above grade, since the tower is not
of the "free standing" variety.
But, I live where the soil is considerably heavy,(California Desert) when
the soil is saturated it becomes terrible, and in the summer months it is so
hard I have to drive a spike with a large hammer in the ground just to put a
sprinkler in place (the type with a 7' spike on 'em)
As far as placement on the property goes, I have enough property to locate
it anywhere. So, the $64K question is...do you guys think it should be AWAY
from the house? or, NEXT to the house? if we go next to the house, one set
of the the guys will be in the front yard. Since I have more than ample room
on this property for the tower and guying. If I set the tower away from the
house how far should this be? and do I run the cables down a nearby guy wire
or underground from base.?
I am guying it 3 ways (120 degrees apart).
One of my main concerns is the degree of guying the antenna down. I want to
get away with going with 30 degrees. Should it be guyed at each 20' section
or one near the top and one set at the second section? which is @ 40'. I am
going to be running 10 meters, I have a 8 element beam by Avanti (AV-140)
some know it as a "Moonraker IV". (dimensions are 19' boom, from top to
bottom each element is 20' has horiz. and vert. elements) this antenna has a
wind load of only 5 sq.. ft. and weighs 24 pounds so with this factor, I
want this thing to last through "super cell storms" with no problem.
eventhough I live in a mild climate.
I would like to guy with "poles" so one can walk around the pole rather than
trip over ground level turnbuckles. Any comments?
The prevailing winds are from the NW and there can be gusts of what I've
seen in the past 11 years here of about 40 mph. So, would pointing or guying
a tower directly into the prevailing winds benefit the load better or should
I consider the placement of the guy wires first and formost in the
landscape? what about running two guys off same eyelet at 60 degrees into
the prevailing wind? or does this matter at all.?
Also the issue of running a solid run of guy wires, is it truly necessary to
break these up with insulators? I heard 22' to be the rule. I would think
just run the guys solid all the way to the tower.
I think the solid run of a guy is important and that I shouldn't worry
about breaking them up for ''coupling or resonance" issues. I just was
worried about the vertical elements getting too close to the top guys and
that they are metal because, The worst part is at the top. this antenna has
9' vertical elements from the boom. if I guy at the top eyelet, the tower
won't rotate. Is this solved by guying at 10' lower point on tower, or using
a 10' section of mast putting antenna well above top plate? or how is it
going to turn a vertical beam?
I'll need to look into the anchors as well. What do you think about having
them at ground level with big turnbuckles on them. OR getting a large
diameter. pole as to be able to walk around the guys since they terminate
5-6' on to of the pole?Whatever type I decide on they will be cemented in.
so I need to know what dimensions of a base pour these "anchors" should be.
and about these "anchors" are the holes wide? or just deep?
Guy wire cable size is of importance I think. should I look at 1/4 " ? or is
that an over kill?
. I need info on base pour dimensions, grounding, guy wire distance from
tower, type of anchors/posts for guys, insulators on guys set for 10-11
meters,(resonance/reflector issues) ANY and all suggestions will be
appreciated, as I am just starting out. If you know of web sites or reading
material for this, please help,
As I will need to climb the tower (at lowest setting) to add the antenna, or
will have to hire a truck.
Thank you all for any feedback concerning this achievement, For the
"hoisting" of this construction , I will offer folks around here " an
erection party". hehe
73s
Dave H.
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