Topband: painted towers

[Robin Critchell]

Towers less than 200 ft are not painted except in specific unusual cases.If someone bought surplus tower sections that are painted, unless the tower is a special case, just let the paint fade and do not attempt to clean it.The tower in the story has probably been around for many many decades and was originally painted with lead bearing paint. Weather and power washing knocks a lot of stuff loose.Towers required to be painted are required to be repainted when the color fades behind a certain amount. Between the FAA and the FCC there is a bureaucrat with a set of paint samples to be used to compare and issue the painting requirement statement.Painting is generally done by a crew climbing down with big cotton mits they dip into paint buckets. Wiping the tower metal with a paint soaked sloppy gloved hand does plenty well enough and does not create overspray like a spray gun would. Drips on the ground underneath can be collected in tarps if needed. Modern paints do not have a lead component. We really do not want to get into the painting and lighting business.  Expensive to run and maintain and has quite specific requirements.  Lighting is usually required on towers requiring painting. Monitoring inspection and reporting is a serious issue.Robin, wa6cdrKCBS-TV (retired thank goodness)Hokus Pokus Automated. Custom English sense errors by Samsung
-------- Original message --------From: topband-request at contesting.com Date: 6/25/22  09:00  (GMT-08:00) To: topband at contesting.com Subject: Topband Digest, Vol 234, Issue 4 Send Topband mailing list submissions to	topband at contesting.comTo subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit	http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/topbandor, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to	topband-request at contesting.comYou can reach the person managing the list at	topband-owner at contesting.comWhen replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specificthan "Re: Contents of Topband digest..."Today's Topics:   1. Lead paint on older tower (Radio KH6O)----------------------------------------------------------------------Message: 1Date: Sat, 25 Jun 2022 08:13:57 -0700From: Radio KH6O <radio.kh6o at gmail.com>To: topband <topband at contesting.com>Cc: "J. R. Martin" <smartin at antelecom.net>Subject: Topband: Lead paint on older towerMessage-ID:	<CABuHbm2Z5t+kbjkCN2shrbDY+xSRrbzAsOY0yVAyAzV9NK_jFA at mail.gmail.com>Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"Colleagues, depending upon the age of our towers, we might findourselves in this predicament (on a smaller scale of course):https://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/headlines/paint-chips-from-tv-tower-have-lead?utm_source=SmartBrief&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=0028F35E-226C-4B60-AC88-AB2831C8A639&utm_content=C1D81FB0-0F19-4CA1-96A0-72DCAEA91CE7&utm_term=5e35c2b9-3044-4235-9961-04d879406e09Sandblasting or just sanding is not an option and might be illegal(airborne lead dust); only disposal and tower replacement seems to bethe option.73, Jeff KH6O------------------------------Subject: Digest Footer_______________________________________________Topband mailing listTopband at contesting.comhttp://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/topband------------------------------End of Topband Digest, Vol 234, Issue 4***************************************