[Towertalk] First Tower

[Jon Ogden]

on 10/3/02 9:36 PM, Jason Hissong at jhisson1@columbus.rr.com wrote:

> Hi gang...
> 
> Thanks to the ham that pointed me in the direction of searching the list.
> Got alot of good information.  I am debating between a Trylon and a
> Universal Tower.  Some questions I have (and I am sure I will have more as
> my project gets going).

Well Jason, congratulations.  As someone who also just put up his first
tower, I can say that you will be very happy and pleased!

> 
> 2. I will be digging the hole soon.  I have to put it in the back yard
> behind the garage.  I have a large tree with tree roots that I am bound to
> run into when digging.  What would be the best solution to get this hole
> dug?  I thought about having a backhoe come in, however, I do not want to
> destroy the lawn getting it back there.  Is there anything I can rent to
> help with this?  Or elbow grease the best way to go about this?

I had to do some major digging in my back yard this summer and rented a Toro
Dingo from Home Depot.  It has a backhoe attachment that works well.
Alternatively you can rent a Bobcat with a backhoe as well.  With a small
backhoe, you won't destroy the lawn.  I would NOT dig such a big hole by
hand.  You'll hate yourself for that.  Don't worry about the tree roots if
you have the backhoe.  It will go through them.  If not, you can always cut
the roots with a Sawzall or something.  It won't hurt the tree.

Also, don't forget that you will need a rebar cage for a free standing
tower!

> 
> 3. What would the cost be for 6 cu yards of concrete?  Again, I do not want
> the truck to back up into the lawn if at all possible, I do not know how
> much work wheelbarrelling that much concrete be :)

My concrete cost about $83 per cu yard.  Get the heaviest "bag" mix
possible.  The heavier the bag, the bigger the rocks and the stronger the
concrete.

If possible have the truck back into the yard and pour from the chute.
Concrete is EXTREMELY heavy and you can't put that much in a wheelbarrow.
And a wheelbarrow full of concrete weighs a LOT.  Six yards is a lot of mix.
If your yard is dry and solid, the truck won't tear it up much.  Now if you
have a soft yard like I do, you get 8" deep ruts and worse after the truck
gets stuck and has to call another truck to pull him out!  But that's
another story!  :-)

> 
> 4. I read in Universal Towers information that you can put the tower up
> after 3 to 4 days after the concrete being poured.  Is this ok for the
> Trylons?

Personally, I would wait a week.  Once the concrete has been troweled and
finished and is dry to the touch (after a few hours), spray a light coat of
water on it and then cover with black plastic.  Keep it covered for a week
(3 to 4 days is probably OK if you can't wait!).  This helps keep moisture
in the concrete which is essential for curing.

> 
> 5. I think I am going with the 56' Tower... T300... for 999.00 that seems
> like a good deal!  I have an 11 element 2M beam that I will be putting on
> top... what type of separation should I have between the HF beam (an MQ34R
> from TGM Communications) and the 2M beam?

You don't need to get that far.  Try to get at least half a wavelength away.
However, if both beams will be horizontally polarized, you won't even need
that much.  Lots of studies have shown that you can virtually lay beams of
different bands right on top of each other and not have any negative effect.
The non resonant elements aren't even seen by the antenna of interest.  This
is how a lot of the modern tri-banders are built using this same concept.

> 
> 6. How cold can I have concrete poured?  I will not have the final approval
> until November 21st.  However, I may be able to get the based dug and poured
> before then (the guy who is responsible for variance approvals stated that
> as long as I put the tower behind the house that it will be approved.  I may
> have to stay under 50' though).
> 
I think you can pour in any weather.  The concrete company I used in my area
is called Ozinga Concrete.  They have a website at www.ozinga.com and they
have a "Do It Yourself" section which talks about all that stuff.  Check
that out.  The guys at the ready mix places are very helpful and can answer
a lot of questions.

> 7. Is it worth it?  Hehehhee... just kidding... an HF beam at 58' should be
> a far cry from my dipole at 40'!!!
> 

Oh yeah, Jason, you will be amazed.

Let me tell you one final experience about how much difference it will make.
I had the pleasure a few years ago of guest operating at ZP5XF and ZP5AZL in
Paraguay.  One night I was at ZP5AZL operating on 20 meters with a good
opening to the US.  I was AMAZED at how a pileup sounds to the DX station.
Mostly just this massive wall of indistinguishable sound.  But then you'd
get stations that would stand out above everyone else.  These were the guys
with towers and beams (and sometimes amplifiers).  Everyone else in the mud
was using dipoles and verticals at 100 W.  It was a relief to hear someone
come in that you could actually hear and understand.

Just my 2 cents!  It's worth it!

73,

Jon
NA9D


-------------------------------------
Jon Ogden
NA9D (ex: KE9NA)

Life Member: ARRL, NRA
Member:  AMSAT, DXCC

http://www.qsl.net/ke9na

"A life lived in fear is a life half lived."