[TowerTalk] Looking for some tower advice

[Jim Aguirre]

I'm relocating to a new QTH soon and will be putting up a couple of 
new towers.  My first priority is to get a modest tower up alongside 
the house to carry VHF/UHF and Microwave antennas...6M through 23CM.  
The second...and, possibly, third...tower(s) can come a bit later.

I will be purchasing new towers, so have some choices to make 
regarding styles, material (aluminum or steel) and options.  Here are 
some of the criteria I have in mind for the first tower.

I'm looking for something about 50' in height, 15-20 square foot 
antenna capacity, freestanding (don't want guy wires cluttering up 
the yard), tiltover design of some sort for easy antenna work.  Not 
necessary to be telescoping unit, but could be.

I've been looking at a couple of possibilities: a 55' US Tower 
tubular (MA-550MDP) with freestanding, rotatable base or a 48' 
Heights aluminum tower (Model 48-23-90) with "foldover" base.  While 
the US Tower unit wouldn't carry 15-20 sq ft of antenna extended, it 
could do so retracted.  Heights offers a 48-footer rated at 23 sq ft 
in 90 MPH wind.

I will probably need at least 12' of mast above the top ot the tower 
on which to stack the antennas.  With the rotatable tubular, that 
doesn't look like a problem; not sure with the Heights tower.

Any thoughts or experiences would be appreciated.

Jim




-- 
"We see things not as THEY are, but as WE are." - Anais Nin