[TowerTalk] Pier pin vs. burying in concrete

[Steve Maki]

Steve Maki <steve@oakcom.com> wrote:

>"Stan Stockton" <k5go@alltel.net> wrote:
>
>>On Kurt's website he makes the following observation referring to a tower
>>that is mounted on a pier with the equivalent of a ball socket mount:
>>
>>"Putting the tower on a free base connection has allowed us to increase the
>>antenna loads by 49%."
>>
>> I am interested in a practical means of achieving this type of free
>>rotating base. Will be out of town for 8 days, but will be interested to see
>>if someone has a good, practical way of achieving this.
>
>IF the Rohn flat plate were strong enough, one could simply place a
>small spacer, like a large nut, around the pin & under the plate.
>
>So the obvious solution would be to beef up the Rohn plate to an
>appropriate thickness. I would guess 3/4" would do it for normal
>ham installs. Kurt?

As K3KO just pointed out to me, one might be concerned about the
ability of the concrete base to support all that force and friction
at one small point. A second thick plate, under the nut, should take
care of that.

73,

--
Steve K8LX

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