Folks,
I am just about to start the preparation work for a new tower
installation. We moved into a house a couple of months ago and once the
remaining work is dealt with I hope to get started on the tower and
antenna. I have never done this before and want to make sure that all of
the important issues are covered. The land plot is something like 4000
square feet with the house occupying approximately 40% of that. Most of
the land is at the front of the property, as is common here, and the
backyard area is 40 feet wide and 10 feet from the rear of the house to
the back wall. Behind the house are acres and acres of vacant land that
will never be built on. My preference is for a self supporting tower at
the rear of the property, these are available locally and constructed to
suit individual requirements. Antenna overhang onto the vacant land is
not going to be a problem. My main interest is in 20-15-10 but I would
like the option of adding a shortened 40m antenna at some point in the
future. I currently have the antenna, a cushcraft X9 and the rotator, a
rebuilt T2X, capacitor will probably go at the top of the tower.
My first question has to do with height. What would be the best sensible
height between say 60 and 100 feet?
How can I verify the foundation design? Assuming this is done by the
tower supplier and knowing that the local soil is notoriously soft
piling will most likely be necessary but I do not want something that is
over engineered so as to be ridiculously expensive.
Currently I am considering a three legged design in steel tapering from
something like a six foot leg spacing at the base to a 12 to 18 inch
face at 60 to 70 % of the total height and parallel from there to the
top.
I would appreciate any comments and ideas.
73's
Martin HS0/G4UQF
Bangkok, Thailand
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