[TowerTalk] Pictures of modest tower + hf beam needed!

[Pete Smith]

At 08:29 PM 6/23/03 +0200, Jaap de Jonge wrote:
>Hi all,
>Need a favor: I'm about to convince my XYL that a modest tower with HF
>beam isn't all that ugly. She's inclined to give in to my want, but
>she'd like to get an impression of what the final result would look
>like. Therefore I'm looking for pictures of a modest tower (45 feet / 15
>meters high) carrying only one HF tribander (3/4/5 element). Tower
>preferably attached to the side of the house, or free standing, but
>close to the house. My house is moderate in size, two stories tall.
>Picture taken from some distance, showing a good overview, with all the
>dimensions in the right perspective and not too much focus on the tower
>is preferred. Please e-mail picture or send me a link and help me
>persuade my wife!

Hi Jaap --

There are a few other things you can do, but of course all of these involve 
trade-offs of one sort or another, in performance, effort, or cost:

Paint the beam and tower to contrast as little as possible with the 
background, as seen from the most common (or most sensitive) vantage 
point.  I have seen 20-meter towers with TH-7s on top that became almost 
invisible when viewed against woods because they were painted bark color 
(dark brownish grey).

Use a crank-up, and keep it cranked down as much as possible.

Use one of the telescoping tubing crank-up towers, and a small tribander 
(like a Force 12 C-3SS for example), and keep it cranked down when not in 
use.  Many XYLs I know dislike a solid, relatively small-diameter support 
less than a lattice-work tower like Rohn 25 or a standard crank-up.  Force 
12 makes a so-called low-profile tower that cranks down to 3.7 meters, up 
to 14 meters, and is very thin for what it will carry.  The big issue here 
is cost.

dood luck!


73, Pete N4ZR
The World HF Contest Station Database was updated 17 June 03.
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