In a message dated 9/4/02 2:56:46 PM Pacific Daylight Time, k3bz@arrl.net
writes:
> Steve... hundreds of these things were built and used very successfully. One
> of the most popular was called the "Paul Bunyan Whip", and it appeared in
> QST March 1963, by Al Hubbard, K0ONM. My neighbor had one up for many years
> with a TH6DX and a small VHF yagi on it, never had a problem. He
home-brewed
> it from pipe he welded together himself with a small home welder. I have
the
> specs and I'd be happy to share them with anyone who e-mails me direct.
>
> I understand your point of view when you throw stones at this sort of
> "amateurish" attempts to get an antenna up, but your professional bias is
> showing: you are a PRO and most of the rest of us are AMATEURS. I realize
> you are just trying to keep us safe and all that...and I would never
violate
> your "do what the Mfr. says" advice... but you have to realize that many of
> us just can't afford expensive commercial towers and masts and cranes like
> you use every day in your work. Sure, there's bunches of hams that can
> afford to put up 100+ foot of rohn, stacked force12's, etc.... but there's
> lots MORE of us that haven't got $$thousands to put into it and look for a
> homebrew alternative (other than wire).... how about using some of your
> considerable expertise in aid of that group too?
>
> Some of us still want to "home-brew" something just like our fathers did,
> within a tight budget, as AMATEURS, not professionals. Is there still room
> for that sort of homebrew thing on the Towertalk reflector? Sorry... I
> don't mean to go off on you or anything, you are a gem on this reflector
who
> gives of yourself freely and I value your opinion highly, but it's just
that
> I get a little tired of the "professional" and "bigbux" partyline.
>
Okay, since you posted this to the whole reflector here you go.
I've worked on over 175 amateur stations and have encountered many
'amateur' shortcuts and outright WRONG things in a myriad of tower/antenna
installations. While many times the owner gets away with it (after all,
everytime you speed you don't get a speeding ticket, do you?) and then other
amateurs think that's the correct way to do something. In fact, I wrote up my
"The 10 Most Common Tower Building Mistakes" years ago after seeing the same
mistakes/problems over and over again. It's available at <A
HREF="http://www.championradio.com";>www.championradio.com</A> under Tech
Notes
I'm not here to discourage homebrewing things but I draw the line at
antenna support structures. In order to do a credible and reliable job of
homebrewing an antenna support structure, you need to be conversant with
materials, engineering, fabrication, welding and installation in your above
example. The vast majority of amateurs ARE NOT CAPABLE of doing this in any
way, shape, or form. Look at the kind of questions that are asked here on TT
by people who have good intentions but don't have a clue about wind forces,
soil types, guy wire materials, etc. TT exists to help keep them out of
trouble in their progression from 'know nothing' (Hey - we all started
there!) to knowledgeable tower owner.
Rohn 25G wasn't widely available in 1963 but these days it is and you can
get used sections for a relative song so you don't have to spend a fortune on
a tower. I just don't see the need to re-invent the wheel when it's
relatively inexpensive and already well engineered.
They used to publish tower designs made out of wood too. Don't get me
started on that one.
I'm just against 'back-of-the-envelope' engineering by people who aren't
qualified to do it. I don't want people to learn their tower lessons the
'hard way' - it can be detrimental to your on-the-air activities.
Cheers,
Steve K7LXC
TOWER TECH --
Professional tower services for commercial and amateur
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