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Re: [BULK] - [TowerTalk] FCC Tower Registration

To: "Rob Atkinson, K5UJ" <k5uj@hotmail.com>, <stevek@jmr.com>,<towertalk@contesting.com>
Subject: Re: [BULK] - [TowerTalk] FCC Tower Registration
From: "WA9VRH Larry" <wa9vrh@mtco.com>
Date: Fri, 10 Sep 2004 17:29:36 -0500
List-post: <mailto:towertalk@contesting.com>
Well this is kind of tower oriented.  Have any of you been approached by
wind turbine folks wanting to set up a wind turbine farm in the area?  I
wish I was on a higher piece of ground. I am in the Midwest part of
Illinois.  There is a big wind turbine farm just North of I-80 and I-39.  It
is one of the coolest things I have ever seen. The blades are I believe
about 160 feet in diameter and the towers about 250 feet tall. Some people
bitch that they are ugly. HA  I have a twin tower high tension line going
behind our property and that is ugly although they don't bother me. The wind
turbines would be a work of art beside those.  I hear that for a tower which
doesn't take much space one gets about $9000.00 a year plus a dollar amount
for the crops lost in the space it is on and the access road going to it. I
would like to have two or three here.
73 Larry WA9VRH

----- Original Message -----
From: "Rob Atkinson, K5UJ" <k5uj@hotmail.com>
To: <stevek@jmr.com>; <towertalk@contesting.com>
Sent: Friday, September 10, 2004 5:14 PM
Subject: RE: [BULK] - [TowerTalk] FCC Tower Registration


> p.s.  one other thing -- you should reasonably expect to accord station
> employees access to your property whenever they need to get at their
> equipment.  This may include employees of professional tower maintenance
> contractors.  If you don't like the idea of strange guys appearing on your
> property in heavy boots and jump suits during your backyard BBQ party this
> may give you pause.
>
> You say you have towers plural.  You sound like a big gun who has done his
> share of climbing.  If you are like me, you will blow off your guests to
go
> watch the climbers or technicians so this probably won't be a problem (for
> you, they may not want an audience, hi).
>
> rob/k5uj
>
>
> From: Steve Katz <stevek@jmr.com>
> To: "'Rob Atkinson, K5UJ'" <k5uj@hotmail.com>, towertalk@contesting.com
> Subject: RE: [BULK] - [TowerTalk] FCC Tower Registration
> Date: Fri, 10 Sep 2004 14:35:51 -0700
>
> On this same subject:
>
> My old friend Bill K2OWR has a hilltop property that was advantageous to a
> local commercial 2-way firm, so they approached him about it.
>
> He ended up with a 140' self-supporting tower on his lot (in addition to
all
> the amateur towers he already had), complete with 240V 200A service and
> panel and about a 20 yard concrete pad, and a new utility shed at the base
> of the tower, and Heliax runs up the tower, and use of any part of the
tower
> he wanted to use except for the very top where they placed the commercial
> antennas; they paid for everything, and they pay rent for the site.
>
> The only downside I can think of would be if an airplane crashed into the
> tower and came down on his property!  However, there may be some other
> downside I didn't think of...you might contact Bill outside this forum and
> see if he tells you of any.
>
> WB2WIK/6
>
> "There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." - Ken
> Olson, Chairman & Founder, Digital Equipment Corporation (1977)
>
>  > -----Original Message-----
>  > From: Rob Atkinson, K5UJ [SMTP:k5uj@hotmail.com]
>  > Sent: Friday, September 10, 2004 2:47 PM
>  > To: towertalk@contesting.com
>  > Subject: [BULK] - [TowerTalk] FCC Tower Registration
>  >
>  > Warning:  **This is not an expert reply**
>  >
>  > A few years ago a ham wrote an article in QST about how he got a cell
>  > phone
>  > company to locate a cell site on his property (actually they approached
>  > him
>  > like the radio station has done with you) and they put up a tower
(maybe
> a
>  >
>  > monopole big fat mast) and put his beam up on top so he got a nice
solid
>  > commercial free tower + rent money out of the deal.  he gave a good
list
>  > of
>  > pros and cons.
>  >
>  >
>  > from what I can recall, pros:
>  >
>  > Rent money coming in every month or quarter or year depending on
> contract.
>  >
>  > Don't know how much to expect though.  I would have the contract they
> will
>  >
>  > probably produce looked over by a communications atty.  You will want
> that
>  >
>  > done anyway for other reasons besides getting an idea of what a
> reasonable
>  >
>  > rent payment would be.
>  >
>  > They may beef up your tower (better guying) to handle the additional
wind
>  > loading and do a professional grounding job.
>  >
>  > They should pay for the electric bill.  They will probably have a
> separate
>  >
>  > service circuit run to the transmitter and have the power co. bill them
>  > directly.  They may build an equipment vault at the base of the tower
on
> a
>  >
>  > slab.
>  >
>  > Cons:
>  >
>  > Depending on ur QTH there may be some iffy zoning since this is
>  > "commercial."
>  >
>  > You will have a transmitter on all the time.  depending on the ERP this
>  > may
>  > or may not be a problem.  your own consumer stuff may get rfi.
>  >
>  > I'd make sure the contract says they have to fix all your ham station
rfi
>  > (because it is licensed), if there is any, whether they are causing it
or
>  > you or you are causing it to them.  It should also say you cannot be
>  > expected to perform any emergency maint. on their gear.  in other
words,
>  > if
>  > they go off the air at 2 am in a blizzard they have to send their guys
>  > out.
>  > It's their baby.
>  >
>  > You will no longer be able to easily dismantle, move, or do stuff to
the
>  > tower with their antenna, i.e. you have a bit of a committment.  The
>  > contract will probably say something to that effect.
>  >
>  > Selling your property if you ever want to move will be more complicated
> if
>  >
>  > they are still a tenant.
>  >
>  > If you think you are going to stay at ur QTH for a long time and the
> tower
>  >
>  > they want to use is pretty permanent, it might be something worth
> pursuing
>  >
>  > to the extent of at least finding out what their deal is and thinking
>  > about
>  > it & running it by a lawyer & how much you need the money and how much
it
>  > is.
>  >
>  > There are obvious variables e.g. if you are HF op & they want to run
100
>  > w.
>  > FM on 95 MHz then prob. okay.  OTOH, if u a weak sig. EME guy & they
want
>  > to
>  > run 10 kw, run!  (first ask if they have any extra heliax you can have)
>  > :
>  >   )
>  >
>  > my 2c.
>  > Rob/K5UJ
>  >
>  > _________________________________________________________________
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>  >
>  > _______________________________________________
>  >
>  > See: http://www.mscomputer.com  for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless
>  > Weather Stations", and lot's more.  Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with
>  > any questions and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
>  >
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>
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> _______________________________________________
>
> See: http://www.mscomputer.com  for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless
Weather Stations", and lot's more.  Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any
questions and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
>
> _______________________________________________
> TowerTalk mailing list
> TowerTalk@contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
>
>


_______________________________________________

See: http://www.mscomputer.com  for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless Weather 
Stations", and lot's more.  Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any questions 
and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.

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