It's not always a matter of $$, although that does help. I've seen
presentations of $100,000 installations that were foolishly designed. I've
seen
great stations designed on a shoestring out in the boonies.
Many guys sacrifice living near "stuff" to get either lots of land or to
be on a remote mountain top. These same guys scrounge hardline, pick up
hardware from estate sales and roll lots of their own hardware.
A great contest station CAN cost hundreds of thousands, but through
sacrificing convenience and being a wise builder, it can be done much cheaper.
Example 1: I had to drive to a location about 250 miles from my QTH,
wrestle around with piles of hardline tangled up with all kinds of BIG spools
laying over them to get some 7/8 hardline....1600 feet of it. Cost: price
of the gas, my time, and a $100 donation to the guys charity.
Example 2: I picked up 310 feet of Rohn 65, cost...$3900. I had to make
four or five 130 mile roundtrips to move it with a borrowed trailer and my
truck. Total cost around $4200 and my time.
Example 3: Half a dozen 1000 ft rolls of 1/4 and 5/16 inch EHS from a
surplus place for less than 8 cents a foot. Yes, I had to drive pretty far to
get them, but I saved a bundle.
I'm sure others on the list could come up with even better results than
mine, but the point is you don't have to be rich to have a great
station...just resourceful and willing/able to spend some time searching for
great
deals.
K4XS/KH7XS Cheap ham...aren't most of us?
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