Once upon a time Steve mentioned that in his line he uses 5,000 PSI concrete
because it even before fully cured, it is strong enough to use much more
quickly and he wants to get in/out to do a job.
This Saturday I am putting up the base for my homemade vertical support. Since
it is 20' tall and made of steel and folds and would easily hold a 6 meter
beam, I'll call it a tower, so it's not off topic!
The first section of the support is about 14' of 3.5" OD, 1/4" wall pipe with a
hinge made of 1/2" steel at the top. The second section is about 10' of 3" OD
1/4" wall pipe, with the top being smaller diameter for the U-Bolts. The
hole-in-the-wall welding shop did a really nice job on it; tolerances are
pretty impressive. The whole thing weighs a bit over 200 lbs, I'd guess.
The base is 7' of larger diameter pipe, with a machined, heavy-walled top
(about 4" long) to take the bottom of the support and welded nuts at ground
level ot adjust plumb. It'll be 4' in the ground, 3' above, and has a couple
plates welded on it to bite into the concrete.
The whole I'll augur will be 30" in diameter x 48" deep, and I intend pour the
concrete up till about 6" below ground level (XYL friendly...I'll plan flowers
around it). I'm having the fiberglass "grenade" put in the mix.
With that lengthy introduction...if I were to use the 5,000 PSI concrete, would
that block be firm enough after only 24 hours to drop in the antenna
support/start going? My company just got bought out (good thing) and I
actually now have four weeks vacation a year (good thing) but I sure as heck
don't have time to take it...I've been off the air at home for six years and am
anxious to get things going, so if it's safe I'd like to finish the job on
Sunday.
What are your thoughts, guys? Yes, I'll still put up a tower...but better to
have this vertical up today, a few thousand set aside toward the tower, and put
a few hundred a month away toward the tower till I can do it...than to wait
till I can do it all and miss half the next cycle.
And for those of you who commented about getting my 84 year-old dad back on the
air, the crusty-old gent was misty-eyed when he hurried on his walker to thank
me for getting him QRV from his walk-in closet yesterday. I probably heard
"good job" and "thanks" more in one day than I did in my entire growing-up
years! (LOL)
73, and I appreciate the upcoming feedback.
Art, KC2G
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