On Tue, 4 Sep 2001 Jon Ogden <jon.ogden@cain-forlaw.com> writes:
>
> Howdy all,
> I have already installed a house bracket near the peak of my house.
> The bracket is fastened to a 2x8 inside my attic which is lag bolted
> into the studs. The 2x8 is about 10 feet long so the load on the house
> bracket is well distributed across the studding in the house. Going
> down from there, the tower goes through a hole in my deck to the
> patio below. Now, this is> where the first problem came in.
Obviously,
> putting the base in concrete is the best way to go. However, having
> a cement patio already in place and not wanting to rip it up, this is
> not really possible. There are two options that I have come up with
> from talking to others. The one I am leaning towards is to use a
> Rohn BP25G drive in base with the three 2 foot drive rods.
> I'd cut three 1.5 to 2 inch holes in the concrete and drive the rods
> into the ground there. The other idea that another ham friend had
> would be to get a flat base plate and bolt the tower base into the
> concrete slab. I like the first option of driving the base into the
> ground the best.
>
> So I pretty much have the base and house bracket situation figured
> out unless anyone can tell me why either of these are bad ideas. Now
> for the rest and most difficult part of the project. I have a total
of 53
> feet of tower sections. The house bracket is located about 21 feet
above
> the base of the tower.
I would opt for a flat base plate and a single large
bolt in the center to hold the plate in place. Almost
all of the forces at the base are DOWNWARD.
(A base plate on earth WILL RUST and so will the
tower legs. I have such a tower base from a removal.)
>
> Question 1: Do I need to guy the tower above the house bracket?
YES YES YES
> But then that brings up question 2: What would be the best way to
> guy the> tower? This is a loaded question. I really don't have the
> real-estate or proper yard layout to do a "technically perfect" guy
> installation. I will through out what I have in mind here and let
> the experts on this list tell me if it is good or not.
>
> One guy point I can run a good long length off the back side of the
> tower out into a wooded area in my back yard. I am pretty confident
> that this guy point would be very good and work well. The wooded
> area of my back yard does rise in elevation compared to the rest
> of the yard and is actually around the same elevation as my rooftop
> (about 22 feet higher than the rest of the yard).
Not a problem.
>
> Now, I have to figure out where to put the other two guys. Well,
> they'd need to be attached through the roof of the house. Is this
> a good or a bad idea? My plan would be to bolt 2x4's or 2x6's
> across several roof joists in the house. Then I'd pass a large eye
> bolt through the roof and fasten the eye bolt into those boards.
> That would comprise my guy point. Is this a good idea?
> Is it a safe idea?
Sounds reasonable to me. You do not have a BIG load
so ANY guy is better than NO guy. N4KG
Is your house one or two stories? I have seen people
put a metal pole up next to and attached to the the edge
of the roof with the guy attached to the pole just above
the roofline.
>
> Due to the size of the house and width of the roof, I have to chose
> between the length of the guy wires and the angle at which they
> come off the tower.
> The wider the angle between the guy wires, the shorter the wires
> will need
> to be and the narrower the angle off the tower. The narrower the
> angle
> between the guy wires, the longer they will be and the wider the
> angle off
> the tower. Does this make sense? I need to have some advice about
> where I
> should or should not put them or what is optimal.
>
You need to have the guys as close to 120 degrees
apart as possible.
> I'm not so concerned about whether or not these guy points will hold
> with the antennas that I have. I think they will. I am more concerned
> about their strength when I am working on the tower itself and am
> climbing up it.
>
GOOD THINKING
> OK, I think I've pretty much laid out my situation. Any advice
> would be appreciated. Now, I have a couple of final questions.
>
> 1.) Is a Tower Jack a good investment to purchase?
Useful but not necessary. Be sure to fit all sections
together ON THE GROUND before raising them.
You may want to mark the joint number and orientation
for ease of assembly.
> 2.) Is there anything I can use as a substitute for a gin pole or do
> I need to find one to borrow or purchase?
A gin pole is the SAFE way to proceed.
See Rohn, WB0W, or make your own.
> 3.) Would a Hazer be a good idea to circumvent climbing of the
> tower?
If you are terrified being on a tower, then a Hazer may
be for you. Climbing a 50 ft safely guyed tower is
NO BIG DEAL so I would skip the Hazer.
> Additionally, how would the hazer work on a guyed tower and with
> additional antennas mounted on the side of the tower?
You'd have to remove the side mounted antennas and guys.
> 4.) Are kevlar guy wires recommended and are they worth their extra
> cost?
Either that or break up steel guys with insulators and wraps.
> 5.) What's the best climbing hardware to get?
The new standard is a full body harness.
I've done all my tower work with a simple nylon belt
and TWO lanyards. Tom N4KG
> 73,
>
> Jon NA9D
>
________________________________________________________________
GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO!
Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less!
Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit:
http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj.
List Sponsored by AN Wireless: AN Wireless handles Rohn tower systems,
Trylon Titan towers, coax, hardline and more. Also check out our self
supporting towers up to 96 feet for under $1500!! http://www.anwireless.com
-----
FAQ on WWW: http://www.contesting.com/FAQ/towertalk
Submissions: towertalk@contesting.com
Administrative requests: towertalk-REQUEST@contesting.com
Problems: owner-towertalk@contesting.com
|