[TowerTalk] Telephone pole tower

[David L. Thompson]

Utility poles make excellent towers.  You can mount a rotor at the top as
was shown in a late 1950's QST and later in both the ARRL antenna book and
handbook.   I used this arrangement for years.  K5RFJ (later W4XJ) and K4EZ
had tram mechanisms to raise the beam or quad from ground level to the top.
Unfortunately this literature has dropped form sight as its old.

Bill Wall KC4UZ found poles up to 120 feet were available for much less than
steel towers.  The major problem is getting them put in position.  I paid
the local electrical utility a fee and they install my pole after digging
the hole.  I say contact the local utility and they can lead you to a new or
used pole (mine was a used 67 footer and they cut off the bottom 10 feet as
they go bad
after 15 or 20 years in the ground in the SE USA.

The first step is to review the towertalk archives and then search QST and
other indexes for the articles on mounting or tramming a beam on a pole.
73 Dave K4JRB


> I was wondering about the feasibility of having a 25 to 30 foot telephone
pole installed to use as a tower.  Probably with a pulley at first to hoist
various dipoles then later install a small yagi and rotor.  I have several
trees that approach 20 feet, but the tops are not very sturdy to hoist
antennas.  There are many powerline poles in the area and farm lights
mounted on poles.  I was thinking a pole might be a lower profile way to get
started then installing a traditional tower given the number of poles
already present.  Has anyone used poles for antenna support in place of a
tower?  Thanks, Ken, N0VZ
>