[TowerTalk] Home-made Towers reply de K0FF

[Tim Makins, EI8IC]

Whoops - it looks like I opened up a can of worms with this one  - I suppose
as this list is mostly US based and you guys have plenty of money, lawyers
and regulations, the question can't/won't come up.  In other parts of the
world, we have to 'make and make do', and in order to get on the air, we
have to try things for ourselves, a bit like the first amateurs in the days
before there were Ham Stores.  Buying a tower for me means getting one from
England; I won't bore you with the exchange rates and shipping, but it's
probably the same as the cost of the tower.  Seems like a waste of money, to
me.  In other places the hams aren't even that lucky; towers are just not
available so they have to improvise themselves or get the local metalwork
company to come up with something.  Now, if you guys in the States like to
work a bit of DX, and would like the DX stations to have a good enough
receive-signal to pick you up, surely it's in the interest of you guys to
help others by relaying your experience as to what can and can't be done,
what is and isn't safe.  No point re-inventing the wheel, after all.

 Now I am a VERY safety conscious guy, and one thing that didn't occur to
anybody is the fact that I might like to make a tower that is stronger and
more reliable than a commercial one.  In these days of cost-cutting and
tight budgets, most commercial organisations are very much profit-motivated,
and so will sell an item that JUST comes up to a certain limit, no more.
Their insurance then covers their butts in case things go wrong.  But for a
private individual, who doesn't want to waste money or do a job twice, why
not choose to make the thing SO strong that it will last for a hundred years
and all the storms there are ????   Steel is reasonably cheap, I'm a good
welder, so with a little information I could come up with something that
will last me out.  That's IF I had the information, of course.  If you don't
like welding, there's always the nut and bolt method; building the legs out
of angle iron to which the zig-zag cross bracing is drilled and bolted.
Surely most people could accomplish this safely IF they have the right
design ???
I have my own cement mixer - its no problem to me to add an extra ton of
concrete to make sure the thing stays up.  That's the kind of thing I would
want to do, anyway.

Well, if anyone wants to chat about home-made towers, perhaps they'd contact
me off list.

73s to all, Tim Makins, EI8IC


----- Original Message -----
From: "K0FF" <K0FF@ARRL.NET>
To: "Tim Makins, EI8IC" <ei8ic@eircom.net>
Sent: 13 December 2000 18:54
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Home-made Towers reply de K0FF


> Tim, I doubt you will find much on the subject coming out of the States.
> The liability issues are so intense, no one will dare even give a helpful
> tip,
> for fear of the info being misused, and someone getting hurt (and
> subsequently sued). That's the main reason
> that most of us emphatically state: Do what the manufacturer's suggest,
and
> don't stray. Also
> many if not most will refer your questions to a licensed professional
> engineer.
>
> Better safe than sorry.
>
> Good luck though, and be safe whatever you attempt.
>
> Happy Building, Geo>KØFF
> http://homepages.dstream.net/K0FF
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Tim Makins, EI8IC <ei8ic@eircom.net>
> To: TowerTalk <towertalk@contesting.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, December 13, 2000 8:20 AM
> Subject: [TowerTalk] Home-made Towers
>
>
> > Does anybody know of any web-based resources covering the design,
> > construction, and erection of home-made masts and towers, please ?
> >
> > Tim Makins, EI8IC
> >
> >
> > --
> > FAQ on WWW:               http://www.contesting.com/FAQ/towertalk
> > Submissions:              towertalk@contesting.com
> > Administrative requests:  towertalk-REQUEST@contesting.com
> > Problems:                 owner-towertalk@contesting.com
> >
> >
>
>



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