[TowerTalk] build up construction

[Pete Smith]

This advice is a little dismaying to me.  At 54, I finally moved to a place where a tower was possible.  I spent a lot of time on the contesting.com reflector (this was before towertalk, if you can believe it), asking just the sort of questions JC is asking.  When it was time for the construction, I was fortunate enough to have a couple of experienced local hams who were willing to give up several weekends advising and helping me.  Sure, I made some small mistakes, and I was mighty sore each night, but I still count that as one of the best ham experiences of my 51 years as a ham.  I learned what I could do, and took great pride in having done it.  As a direct result, at age 65 I still do a lot of my own work on the tower, but my experience tells me when it's time to call in a pro, and I have a much clearer sense of my limitations than I would if I had just signed a check.

So my advice to JC, I think, would be to listen to people like Gene, take your time, get a helper or two with experience, and have at it.  If it takes you more time, so be it.  Think through every move on the tower before you do it, and never compromise safety, but go do it, and have fun.

73, Pete N4ZR

  At 12:21 PM 6/4/2006, Michael J. Castellano wrote:
>JC;  Been in the tower business over 30 years (retired now). I might sound a bit harsh, but please take it as help from a brother ham.
>
>If you have to ask about difficulty, etc in building up a tower, you shouldn't be doing it. I would strongly recommend having a local tower company do the job. Yes, it will cost a few $$, but they are insured, they have the tools, expertise and a little known fact... they always have the extra parts, items that are usually overlooked.
>Building this way, though very common on large towers does entail a bit of precision from the ground up. It is really depressing to find at 60 feet the bolt holes are out of line by even 1/4 inch...and it does happen...
>
>What would probably take the non pro builder a couple of days would most likely take them a few hours.
>
>If building inspection questions arise, they can address them and there is usually some sort of guarantee on the workmanship.
>
>No scraped knuckles, bumped heads, no last minute delays for want of parts, no anxiety about getting hurt... the only pain (short lived) is writing the darn check at the end of the day!
>
>No matter what you decide, be safe, and seeya on the bands!
>
>73!
>
>Mike KM1RNo virus found in this outgoing message.
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