[TowerTalk] Simple Tower Construction

Mon Jul 18 11:30:10 EDT 2005

Note that there was a QST article, February 2000, page 46 about 
a similar setup.  They show a flexible reducing drain pipe adapter,
and I've seen somewhere mention of using the rubber part of a toilet
plunger.

I've actually thought about using one of the F12 crank-up towers, with
the base on the floor of the attic, and the top protruding through the
roof, for a roof-top crankup.

And even with my HAM-II on top of a 17 foot Glen Martin tower on the
roof, it's all tied together tight enough that the sound of the
rotator propogates into the rooms below the tower.

Note that I tied the tower base foundation down to a load-bearing
wall, since the roof itself was fairly lightly built (almost 100 years
ago, just after the 1906 SF earthquake), with some long unsuppported
spans.

73, doug

   From: "JC Smith" <jc-smith at comcast.net>
   Date: Mon, 18 Jul 2005 07:55:51 -0700

   John,

   How did you make your "thrust bearing" watertight?

   73 - JC, k0hps at amsat.org

   -----Original Message-----
   From: towertalk-bounces at contesting.com
   [mailto:towertalk-bounces at contesting.com]On Behalf Of W0UN -- John Brosnahan
   Sent: Monday, July 18, 2005 3:56 AM
   To: kb0fhp at comcast.net; towertalk at contesting.com
   Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Simple Tower Construction

   At 10:08 PM 7/17/2005, you wrote:
   >I like that Idea - very simple and easy.  For what I plan, it can be made
   >simplier too.  Install the pipe as you did, and attach the rotor to the
   pipe
   >(sticking about 5-6' above the roof).  Capping each end will avoid water
   >collecting in the pipe.  Using standard available flashing, it shouldn't
   >leak.  Just take a lot of beefing up on the roof.  With a shortened mast,
   >the overturning moment is small..... I like that.....

   When I was at the University of Missouri a group of us lived in an old,
   2-story house, with a HIGH attic.  I bolted my Ham-M rotator to the floor
   of the attic, directly under the peak of the roof, and rotated an 18 ft
   length
   of water pipe that stuck out above the roof by about 11 ft or so.  On this
   pipe I mounted a 2L cubical quad and it worked very well for me.  This was
   in the 1960s and I work a lot of 20M long path into the middle east with
   stations like EP3AM and YI1BGD.

   I beefed up the area just below the peak to act as a thrust bearing.  Only
   real problem was the rotator made some noise because it was bolted to
   the floor -- which was the ceiling for the guys who lived on the 2nd floor.
   No problem for me since I lived on the 1st floor.  Even mounting the rotator
   above the roof will still couple some noise into the house.  Not a problem
   as long as your operating times don't conflict with anyone wanting to sleep.
   In the case of the Ham-M it was more an issue of the noise of the brake
   rather than the rotating noise itself.  I am sure I could have
   quieted it some if
   I had not been a very POOR student at the time.  A few bucks on some
   sound-deadening materials might have helped a lot.

   --John  W0UN