[TowerTalk] Grounding Rod Lenght

[Alan C. Zack]

Thanks for all the good info.  I do have to have a NV wet stamp on the
UST drawings.  Their outside contracted PE provides their work to the
sales guy at UST who in turn sells it to me for $250.00.  At least
that was the last quoted price for UBC-97 specs at 90 MPH.  Now I'm
waiting for them to see if they can give the specs under IBC-2000. 
This is just to get a bldg permit for a base 3 ft by 3 ft by 4 ft
deep.
There are no ARRL PE's in NV so says ARRL Hdqts, so I have to go with
a local guy or the PE working for UST who does have a NV PE stamp.  I
decided to go with the UST guy as he has all the UST paperwork at his
disposal.  I also can't find anyone to pour such a small plot of
concrete.  I may end up getting my driveway widened and the tower base
poured as a side job to the driveway.
As you say, this is a learning experience.  First I just downloaded
UST base drawings from the internet and took it to the Bldg dept. 
They told me that was OK, but it needed a NV PE wet stamp.  As I was
leaving, he told me BTW, you also need wind calcs for 90 MPH.  The 90
MPH wind calcs have been the problem.  Later, on the phone I tried to
talk them into accepting the already computed 70 MPH wind calcs UST
provides free of charge but they tell me under IBC-2000 it must be 90
MPH.

Jim Lux wrote:
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Alan C. Zack" <k7acz at cox.net>
> To: "Jim Lux" <jimlux at earthlink.net>
> Cc: "James" <jameswarren at swbell.net>; <towertalk at contesting.com>
> Sent: Monday, February 16, 2004 7:53 PM
> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Grounding Rod Lenght
> 
> > Jim,
> > Good info here.  Question please.  If a city Building Department is
> > requiring your antenna tower project to be to code, can you request to
> > study the code from one of their books?
> 
> I would think so.... They don't have to help you find stuff, but they should
> certainly have a copy of the code available for inspection (and probably for
> copying to take away at a "nominal" cost (close to actual cost of making the
> copies)).
> 
> The local public library also usually has all the local codes.
> 
> > Reason I ask is I'm in the process of getting a building permit for a
> > small tower.  U.S. Towers provided me with drawings and wind calcs for
> > 70 MPH.  Not good enough.  The US Towers drawings are to USB-97 specs,
> > they want IBC-2000 specs.  The wind specs are to 70 MPH, they want 90
> > MPH.  Sales at U.S. Towers has refereed it to their outside contracted
> > PE.  They don't have an in-house PE.  They farm stuff like this out to
> > a contracted PE then charges the customer for the info.  Still better
> > than trying to find someone from scratch to do it for you.  Any
> > possible suggestions?  (I am an EE and IE but not a PE)
> > Thanks.......
> 
> With a few hours of work, you should be able to determine which sections of
> the code are controlling in your situation, and then you should be able to
> do some analysis and calculations, which might be sufficient to make the guy
> or gal at the counter happy.  On the other hand, if they're looking for a
> wet stamp and signature, nothing you do will help.  However, your knowing
> what's going on, and doing a lot of the "grunt work" might make getting that
> stamp and signature easier/less expensive.
> 
> Don't expect getting it done for $50, though, unless you've got a close
> friend who's a P.E., or there's some other sort of "deal" to be worked.  You
> can call ARRL, who has lists of P.E.s who are "ham friendly", which might
> save you something on the initial consultation, at least.
> 
> Be aware that "the code" won't tell you how to do the calculations. It will
> just give you the requirements: that is, something along the lines of
> "structures shall be designed to withstand a XYZ mi/hr wind without failure,
> and ABC mi/hr without permanent deformation" and "material property factor
> of safety of 2.0 shall be used for all strength calculations" and stuff like
> that.
> 
> >

-- 
__________________________________________________________________________                       
                                     Alan Zack
                     Amateur Radio Station K7ACZ
                         Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
          Quality Engineer, The Boeing Company, Retired
  Aviation Chief Warrant Officer, U.S. Coast Guard, Retired
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