[TowerTalk] antenna height vs hassle

[Dan Bookwalter]

Wow.... after reading all this about the cost of
pumpers and backhoes etc... i have determined i need
to move.... when i had the hole for my tower base dug
which took the guy less than 20 mins it was $400.00...
when i checked on the price of a pumper truck it was
$900 just to show up , then there were additional
charges for the extra hose he was going to have to
use. 

Dan N8DCJ
--- Robert Shohet <kq2m at earthlink.net> wrote:

> Is it a matter of not being able to get the concrete
> truck close to
> the hole, or you can't get anything near the hole?
> 
> At my qth there was no way to get a concrete truck
> closer than 150'
> from my 130' tower base.
> 
> So I paid the guy with the backhoe to be at the
> concrete pour.
> We had the concrete truck pour (through the chute)
> the concrete
> into the backhoe shovel, about 1 cubic yard at a
> time, and the
> backhoe carried the concrete on my rock ledge over
> VERY uneven
> ground to the tower bases.
> 
> It went surprisingly fast and very well with
> virtually no
> concrete spillage.
> 
> I used a large backhoe.  You can also rent a small
> backhoe
> with a small shovel and bulldozer plow and the small
> ones
> can fit almost anywhere and navigate highly uneven
> ground
> and rock ledge very easily.
> 
> The project should take less than 1 hour - I had the
> large
> backhoe fill two tower bases, and six guy anchors
> with
> 20 cu yds of concrete in about 1 hour!  Both tower
> bases and
> 4 of the guy anchors were complete inaccessible to
> the
> concrete truck.
> 
> If you saw my QTH and where the tower bases and guy
> anchors are in the
> deep woods on rockledge, you would marvel at how it
> was possible.
> 
> For the $200 I spent on the backhoe and operator, it
> was amazingly
> well worth it.
> 
> 73
> Bob KQ2M
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Bill Coleman" <aa4lr at arrl.net>
> To: <KI9A at aol.com>
> Cc: <towertalk at contesting.com>;
> <smc at w9smc.contesting.com>
> Sent: Sunday, August 22, 2004 7:00 PM
> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] antenna height vs hassle
> 
> 
> >
> > On Aug 15, 2004, at 6:27 PM, KI9A at aol.com wrote:
> >
> > > I live on a small lot, can't really have
> > > a guyed tower. I now have a roof tower with my 2
> meter yagi at about
> > > 27', the
> > > A3 tribander at 30' & a 6 meter yagi at 33'.
> >
> > I had a similar situation at my old QTH - A3S at
> 35 feet, 2m boomer at
> > 43 feet.
> >
> > > In order to put this 40' tower up, I would have
> to hire out the hole
> > > (5'x5'x5'), then hand carry all of the concrete
> approx  120-150'
> > > across the grass, on
> > > an uneven area (ugh).  No way to get the truck
> any closer.
> >
> > Here's some alternatives. First, you don't
> necessarily have to use a
> > ready-mix truck. You could consider mixing the
> concrete yourself. If
> > you did this, you could rent a small mixer, and do
> two bags at a time.
> > (Note that it would take in excess of 100 bags, so
> I wouldn't recommend
> > this)
> >
> > Second, you can rent a powered wheelbarrow to
> carry the concrete from
> > the curb to the hole. either that, or get about
> four good friends with
> > wheelbarrows to shuttle the concrete across the
> yard.
> >
> > Third, if the hole is downhill from the road, you
> can rig up a trough
> > to the hole. Failing that, you can rent a pump
> truck to move the
> > concrete uphill.
> >
> > > Bottom line is this...is the cost & hassle of
> this worth the potential
> > > gain?
> > > If the tower was 60-80', I'd say of course, but,
> going from 30' to
> > > 45', I
> > > dunno if there would be much improvement to be
> worth it. I'm beginning
> > > to think
> > > not.
> >
> > At my old QTH, I have the A3S at 35 feet. Today it
> is on a tower next
> > to the house at just under 50 feet. It certainly
> behaves differently,
> > especially on 20m. Further, I have much less RFI
> in the house.
> >
> > 125 cubic feet of concrete seems like a huge
> hassle, but I've gotten
> > much more enjoyment out of my station since I have
> a (modestly)
> > improved station.
> >
> > Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL        Mail:
> aa4lr at arrl.net
> > Quote: "Not within a thousand years will man ever
> fly!"
> >              -- Wilbur Wright, 1901
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> >
> > See: http://www.mscomputer.com  for "Self
> Supporting Towers", "Wireless
> Weather Stations", and lot's more.  Call Toll Free,
> 1-800-333-9041 with any
> questions and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > TowerTalk mailing list
> > TowerTalk at contesting.com
> >
>
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
> >
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> 
> See: http://www.mscomputer.com  for "Self Supporting
> Towers", "Wireless Weather Stations", and lot's
> more.  Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any
> questions and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
> 
> _______________________________________________
> TowerTalk mailing list
> TowerTalk at contesting.com
>
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
> 



		
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