[TowerTalk] installing monster masts in towers

[ersmar@comcast.net]

JC:

     You've got it:  Build the Trylon or ANW tower AROUND the CM mast.   Seriously.  It's what I did, although a bit belatedly.  (See below.)  

     After you have the first/bottom section built and concreted into place (allow for a week or so of curing), remove all the braces on one side of the lone tower section.  Then you can lean the CM mast against the inside of the tower and reassemble the braces.  Once the CM is inside the base, you can continue having fun with your erector set in the back yard and finish the construction.  

     After the tower is completed, you'll need a ginpole at the top.  Feed the haul line from the ginpole down through the bearing(s) and the rotator plates and thread it throught the CM mast from the top.  Securely tie the end of the haul rope onto a shackle that will rest against the bottom of the mast while hauling it up through the two or three shelves.  This means that the knot and shackle must be small enough to fit into the mast and the shackle small enough to slide through the openings in the plates and bearings.  

     Once the mast emerges from atop the tower, lock it temporarily into place with something - I used two pair of back-to-back muffler clamps around the mast and resting on the top and middle bearings.  With the clamps securely holding the mast in place, remove the haul rope and use a come-along to lift the mast, plus antennas, into their final positions.  

     I didn't run across this idea (courtesy of N3RR) until the tower was completely built.  I had the delicate task of leaning the CM against the bottom section of the finished tower and removing one brace at a time from the side of three lowest sections as I allowed the mast to tip backwards into the center of the tower.  I removed one brace at a time, then replaced it, to ensure I didn't remove too much of the structural components of the finished tower at a time.  

     CAREFUL:  If you completely build the tower first as I did, be sure the CM mast is securely tied onto the tower while you are letting it slide into position inside the tower.  A better (and safer) approach would be to encase the CM mast inside the tower after the first section has been concreted.  

73 de
Gene Smar  AD3F



> OK, so lets say I've got my new, super HD, 70', freestanding, Trylon or AN
> Wireless  tower up in place.  Now I've got to get that 24' Chrom-Moly mast
> up there and through the thrust bearing somehow.  How the heck do you do
> that (no cranes allowed, it looks like I'm going to have to stick build the
> tower)?  The antennas I can tram up on temporary guy wires, but even if I
> could do that with the mast I've still got to stand it up to get it through
> the center of the tower.  Big gin pole?  Seems like you'd need a gin pole to
> raise a gin pole big enough to handle one of those monster masts.
> Helocopter?  Maybe... gee, might as well have them pick up the tower as
> well, but how much does that cost?  Anyone have experience with that and can
> give me a ballpark number?  It's gotta be big bucks, and doing it over a
> residential neighborhood?  Maybe not even possible.  So, how the heck do you
> do that?  Build the tower around the mast and pull it straight up the
> middle?  Any other suggestions?
> Thanks & 73 - JC, k0hps at amsat.org
> 
> 
> 
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