[TowerTalk] My Tower cost

[Bill Coleman]

On Aug 24, 2004, at 3:40 PM, Tower (K8RI) wrote:

> I've had 40 and 50 foot towers that had a tribander, or monobander on 
> top, used dirt bases,
> 1/8" guy lines hooked to 8' fence posts that withstood over 70 MPH 
> winds.

Sounds like you were lucky. This doesn't appear to be a well-engineered 
installation, and sounds far inferior to what the manufacturer 
recommends.

> I had one 40' bracketed to the end of the house, that used a dirt base 
> and
> 1/8" steel guys that had a 5L KLM 20 meter beam on a 42 foot boom. I 
> had a
> second 40 foot tower that was just out in the back yard holding a 6L 15
> meter KLM on a 42 foot boom, and I had a third 40 footer in the garden 
> with
> a 7L 10 meter Wilson on a 39 foot boom. On all, the guy anchors were 
> nothing more than 8' steel fence posts driven in about 2 1/2 feet of 
> clay/loam. These systems
> withstood over 70 MPH winds out in the open country on a good many
> occasions.

You're one darn lucky fellow. Are you promoting the installation of 
marginal towers?


I'm all for being cheap, but I refused to cut corners when it comes to 
safety. Consider how your insurance company would react when they 
discover an improperly engineered tower installation was the cause of 
damage.

Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL        Mail: aa4lr at arrl.net
Quote: "Not within a thousand years will man ever fly!"
             -- Wilbur Wright, 1901