[TowerTalk] Which tower?

[K7LXC at aol.com]

In a message dated 10/2/03 10:11:08 PM Pacific Daylight Time, 
k3ug at sbcglobal.net writes:

> Beware on a Trylon.. they don't come with any drawings/calculations...  

    Actually factory Trylon drawings are readily available. You can download 
them in three different formats from <A HREF="http://www.championradio.com">
www.championradio.com</A>. They're the same kind of base and structure drawings 
you find in the Rohn catalog. 

    Calculations are different. Calcs are not available from Rohn or anyone 
else for that matter. The only towers I'm aware of that are available with a 
'no charge' Professional Engineer calcs package are the US Tower ones and 
they're stamped for California. Any other state PE stamp costs extra since each 
building department requires a PE stamp from that state. 

>  and
>  if your city requires them for a building permit, they can be very costly 
to
>  obtain.

    Most building permit applications will require PE stamped drawings for 
that state. If you go to an engineering firm, you will pay thru the nose; i.e. 
$1000 and up. On the ARRL website there are VCE's (Volunteer Consulting 
Engineers) listed by state who have volunteered to help hams with this. If you can't 
find anyone to help you there, ask around your local radio clubs or other ham 
buddies - I'll bet you a nickel there's someone who'll do it for a six-pack or 
nominal charge. Some years ago I paid the fees for a local ham/engineer to 
get his PE stamp and he did my drawing package. Another way to do it is to call 
engineers in the phone book and look for an engineer who will do it after 
hours or a small firm who'll work with you and your budget. I've done this several 
times and always found someone that would only charge $400-500 - a reasonable 
sum for this service. 

    I do this all the time and never pay more than that. Most engineers are 
happy to get the extra work that only takes them a couple of hours to do. While 
no one likes to pay the additional cost, in the overall scheme of things it's 
a small fraction of the total cost of the project. 

    If you really get stuck, I can supply the calcs that a local PE can 
review and stamp which'll be cheaper as well. 

Cheers,
Steve     K7LXC
TOWER TECH -
Professional tower services for commercial and amateur