[TowerTalk] cheap hams

[Keith Dutson]

One should be able to find a good used tower (with guys and other hardware),
rotator and tri-bander for about 50 cents on the dollar compared to new
price.  Let's say it is 70 feet of Rohn 45G with Force 12 C-3 rotated with
Yaesu G-800DXA.

Parts list:
1. Tower sections (7*209) $1463
2. Tower bearing plate $189
3. Tower TB3 $149
4. Tower short base section $119
5. Tower guy assembly (2*149) $298
6. Tower EHS (3/16x500ft) $119
7. Tower guy grips (12*5) $60
8. Tower thimbles (12*.75) $9
9. Tower turnbuckles (6*16) $96
10. Tower equalizer plate (3*32) $96
11. Tower concrete guy anchor rod (3*39) $117
12. Tower rotor plate $115
13. Tower mast (carbon steel 10' .18") $179
14. Rotor $409
15. Rotor control cable (100' 6-18) $49
16. Concrete (10 yds*100) $1000
17. Hole digging (backhoe rental) $275
18. re-bar as needed est $10

That's about it.  What did I leave out?  Coax and other stuff will be needed
for any antenna.  Oh, and one might want to invest in a good ground system
to help avert lightning damage.

I think the above may be less than the cost to have a kid drive back and
forth to college for 4 years counting only gas, insurance and speeding
tickets. <grin>

73, Keith NM5G



-----Original Message-----
From: towertalk-bounces at contesting.com
[mailto:towertalk-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of K8RI on TowerTalk
Sent: Friday, August 18, 2006 4:11 PM
To: TOWERTALK at contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] cheap hams




> On Fri, 18 Aug 2006 12:42:40 -0500, Keith Dutson wrote:
>
>>Two words come to mind:
>>Resourceful
>>Thrifty
>
> Yes. And not all hams have spare cash laying around. For many, it is a 
> stretch to own one decent radio. The cost of a beam on a properly 
> engineered tower could put a child through a year at some colleges!

That's either a very expensive college or cheap tower installation.  A good
size tower that requires engineering at the local level (in some areas)
could send a kid all the way through some four year colleges.

Roger Halstead (K8RI and ARRL 40 year Life Member) N833R - World's oldest
Debonair CD-2 www.rogerhalstead.com (Use return address from home page)
>
> 73,
>
> Jim Brown K9YC
>
>
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