[TowerTalk] First tower questions

[Eric Gustafson]

>Date: Sun, 18 Oct 1998 23:41:16 -0400 (EDT)
>From: "Tim Totten, N4GN" <n4gn@iglou.com>
>
>After being licensed 22 years, I'm FINALLY getting around to
>putting up my first tower!  The plan is for 87 ft of 45G (eight
>regular sections and a flat top), guyed with Phillystran.
>Initially, I will put a C4XL on top, and if I like that, I'll
>probably add a couple of sidemount C3s.  I poured the base last
>week, and just finished the guy anchor points this wknd.  My
>goal is to have the thing up in time for SS CW in three weeks.
>
>So here are the questions:
>
>1) The Rohn book for 90 ft of 45G says guys at 39 and 85 ft for
>110 mph.  But my total ht to the flat top will be abt 87 ft.
>Having the top guy point only two ft below the top sounds
>awkward to me.  Won't that kinda be in the way when I'm working
>on the C4XL?  Would I be better off moving it down to 82 ft, or
>maybe just attach right to the top plate? (Can you tell I have
>very little experience working on towers?!)
>  
>2) I was just about to start driving copper ground rods when
>someone told me I need to use galvanized rods instead for the
>tower.  Engineering school is just a vague memory these days,
>but I can see how this makes sense.  I'm leaning toward the
>9-rod installation (3 per leg), but my question is, what should
>I use to connect the rods, assuming copper is verboten?
>
>3) I have a 10-ft mast which is sufficient for just the C4XL.
>But I'd eventually like to have a nice 20-ft mast for
>flexibility in adding more antennas later.  I think I can get
>what I need through a friend who runs a local metal shop.  The
>only problem is it will probably not arrive until after SS CW.
>I think it would be much easier to build the tower around a
>20-ft mast and pull it up through the middle than it would be to
>install it after the tower is up.  So do I just wait until I
>have the 20-ft mast in hand before erecting the tower, or is
>there some trick to installing it after the fact (say, next
>spring)?
>
>4) I just recently re-subscribed to the towertalk reflector and
>saw the end of a thread about a 10 mtr mod to the C3.  Does the
>same mod apply to the C4XL?  Where can I get details?
>
>73,
>
>Tim Totten, n4gn@iglou.com
>http://www.iglou.com/n4gn/

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